Texan by Nature is excited to recognize Vistra Energy as a 2022 TxN 20 honoree for their leadership in conservation and sustainability. Austin PARD’s commitment to conservation, their projects, programs, best practices, and lessons learned are an example and inspiration for us all.

Honoree Industry and Size:  Energy – Mid 

Company Overview: Vistra is a leading Fortune 500 integrated retail electricity and power generation company based in Irving, Texas, providing essential resources for customers, commerce, and communities. Vistra combines an innovative, customer-centric approach to retail with safe, reliable, diverse, and efficient power generation. The company brings its products and services to market in 20 states and the District of Columbia, including six of the seven competitive wholesale markets in the U.S.  Serving approximately 4 million residential, commercial, and industrial retail customers with electricity and natural gas, Vistra is one of the largest competitive residential electricity providers in the country and offers over 50 renewable energy plans. The company is also the largest competitive power generator in the U.S., with a capacity of approximately 39,000 megawatts powered by a diverse portfolio, including natural gas, nuclear, solar, and battery energy storage facilities. In addition, Vistra is a large purchaser of wind power. The company owns and operates the largest battery energy storage system in Texas – the 260 MW/260 MWh DeCordova Energy Storage Facility – and the largest battery energy storage system in the world, a 750-MW/3,000-MWh facility in California. Vistra is guided by four core principles: we do business the right way, we work as a team, we compete to win, and we care about our stakeholders, including our customers, our communities where we work and live, our employees, and our investors. Learn more about our environmental, social, and governance efforts and read the company’s sustainability report.

What is Vistra Energy’s conservation and sustainability mission and why is it important to your culture?
Vistra is a leading integrated retail electricity and power generation company, providing an essential resource — electricity — to customers, commerce, and communities. As a leader in the power sector, we are committed to addressing climate change by transforming our fleet to low-to-no carbon resources and advocating for economy-wide carbon solutions while also bettering our communities, our workplace, and our relationships with our customers, suppliers, and investors. We’re driven by purpose – lighting up lives, powering a better way forward.This statement guides our conservation and sustainability mission; it’s also the cornerstone of the Vistra culture. We believe a better way forward includes investing in employees, prioritizing key stakeholders – including our neighbors in communities where we live, work, and serve – and improving the environment.

How is conservation and sustainability a part of Vistra Energy’s business strategy?
In devising our long-term strategy, Vistra has taken a balanced approach to lower emissions through the transformation of our generation fleet to low-to-no carbon generation sources while continuing to provide affordable, reliable, and sustainable power to our customers. We are committed to leading in the climate change effort as we invest in zero-carbon resources, retire fossil-fueled assets, and support and invest in environmentally-sound solutions and technology. With our economy becoming increasingly electrified, we understand demand will increase as well. Vistra is ready to offer clean, reliable, and affordable electricity to meet consumers’ needs. We view sustainability and conservation not as threats to the business but as opportunities to lead in the energy transformation and serve the growing number of consumers working to do their part, as well. 

“Vistra is proud to be selected as a 2022 TxN 20 Honoree. Together, we share a common goal – to unite business and sustainability objectives, and to protect the state we call home. From a growing clean energy portfolio to award-winning reclamation work, we are powering a better way forward. This recognition is the culmination of more than a century of work to protect Texas’ natural resources.”

– Stacey Doré, Chief Strategy & Sustainability Officer, Vistra Corp.

What are Vistra Energy’s short and long-term goals as they relate to conservation and sustainability?
Vistra tracks and reports various environmental performance and financial metrics to not only show the progress of the climate strategy initiatives we have implemented but to hold ourselves accountable to all stakeholders. Vistra has a goal to achieve a 60% reduction in CO2 equivalent emissions by 2030, as compared to a 2010 baseline, with a long-term goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Vistra’s emissions reductions have been achieved through the retirement of more than 12,000 MW of coal and gas plants to date, with another nearly ~7,500 MW of coal-fueled retirements planned over the next five years. Vistra’s transformation combines these retirements with the addition of clean energy assets – we’ll have an expected 7,300 MW of zero-carbon resources online by 2026  in our Vistra Zero portfolio.

Producing electricity utilizes water in several key functions, therefore, water conservation is a primary concern at each of our generating facilities. Vistra recognizes the value of water resources and is continuously working to refine our water management strategies. Vistra is a key player in helping to manage national water resources, providing expertise on several official regional and statewide water planning and conservation groups or committees. 

Through various programs implemented at each facility, Vistra has been able to reduce the amount of water needed to produce electricity, with a 42% reduction in water withdrawal since 2010.  Additionally, Vistra power plants consume less than 2% of water withdrawn, discharging the other 98%.

Since mining began more than 50 years ago, Luminant, the generation and mining business of Vistra, has reclaimed more than 86,000 acres of land for use as pastures, forests, wildlife habitats, and water resources. The company has already secured reclamation bond liability releases on over 45,000 acres, demonstrating that it meets or exceeds pre-mine standards. 

Who at Vistra Energy is leading your conservation and sustainability efforts and what are some examples of employee engagement in conservation and sustainability at your company?
Luminant Environmental Coordinator Justin Ewing has spent the past 13 years focused on sustainability in our mining operations. His commitment to the environment and passion for conservation help ensure previously-mined land is returned to its original beauty – and is often left better than pre-mining condition.  

Justin’s team was recognized with the 2021 National Excellence in Surface Coal Mining Reclamation Award from the Office of Surface Mining (OSM), a testament to his work and Luminant’s commitment to the environment.What conservation and sustainability programs and projects does Vistra Energy lead and participate in?

Our company’s roots in Texas go back 140 years, and we are one of the largest landowners in the state. When our sites reach the end of their productive life, we restore – and in many cases improve – the land. We have reclaimed more than 86,000 acres, planted more than 43 million native trees, and created or enhanced more than 7,000 acres of wetlands, ponds, and stream channels on our restored lands, dramatically increasing water resources for the benefit of wildlife and livestock.
Importantly, we have accomplished all of this while generating affordable and reliable electricity that has helped power the unprecedented Texas economy for generations, all while spending hundreds of millions of dollars to reduce emissions and restore our sites to an equivalent if not better condition.

How do you see the future of conservation and sustainability evolving, and what role will Vistra Energy play in that progress?
Vistra is proud to be a leader in conservation and sustainability. And while technology, reporting, and climate goals have evolved, our mission to produce clean, reliable electricity has not. 

We are driven by purpose —  to help meet the electricity needs of a growing population and move toward an, even more, environmentally-sound future. While we have a deep history of protecting the environment, including conservation, Vistra has expanded reporting of its environmental footprint and expects to significantly reduce its emissions and usage of natural resources as it invests in new technologies to generate electricity. 

Our stewardship begins with maintaining an excellent compliance record that meets or outperforms all applicable federal and state environmental laws and regulations. No one has more experience than Vistra in generating electricity in an environmentally-responsible way, with an exceptional track record of reducing emissions. We are committed to carbon-reducing technology development, renewable energy, energy storage, and zero-emission nuclear generation that will improve the quality of the environment for all. We’ve focused our energies on being socially and environmentally responsible since our predecessor companies first turned on electric lights in Texas in 1882, and we’re looking forward to powering the future.

How does Vistra Energy quantify investment and return on conservation and sustainability?
Over the next five years, Vistra expects to spend $5 billion on renewable generating assets (including solar and battery energy storage) as our portfolio continues to transition away from carbon-heavy generating resources. These investments must meet Vistra’s internal rate of return thresholds. Vistra includes in its evaluation of projects the higher terminal value and multiples that are placed on green investments by the financial community. Vistra also considers the impact these investments will have on local communities including cleaner air, jobs for energy workers, and economic stability.

What is the one lesson that your company has learned from your conservation and sustainability efforts that others can take back and think about applying within their own space?
Having strong conservation and sustainability principles in place will guide your business, even as the business evolves. Our long history of environmental stewardship and sustainability are the foundations of Vistra’s goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050. Our commitment to the environment has not changed; it has simply evolved to address modern science and future energy needs. 

Why is Texas an important home or base of operations for your company?
Texas pride. It’s something you quickly pick up on, whether you’re a Texas native or just arrived. It’s a collective idea, that each of us is working to make our state the best place to live, learn, and work. 

It’s been a driving force for Vistra, with Texas roots stretching back 140 years. 

We believe in the power of competition to spark innovation and unleash benefits for our customers and we compete to win – whether we’re winning our customers’ loyalty or striving to be the best at what we do every day. That philosophy is fully supported by Texas’ unique ERCOT power market, which operates independently from other power regions in the country. Vistra is also proud to help the communities where our employees and customers live, work, and grow. Although our business has grown far beyond the Lone Star State, the heart of our business is here, and some of our most valuable partnerships are with agencies and nonprofits across our state, dedicated to uplifting the most vulnerable among us. 

Learn more about Vistra’s conservation and sustainability efforts here.