Vistra Publishes Annual Sustainability Report Highlighting with Greater Transparency Its Continued Transformation to a Cleaner Company

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Jun 05, 2020, 08:00 ET

IRVING, Texas, June 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Vistra (NYSE: VST) published today its 2019 Annual Sustainability Report, which adopts for the first time the Sustainable Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) frameworks. In addition, the report highlights Vistra's environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives and accomplishments for the 2019 reporting period, including:

Emissions Reductions

Achieving a 39% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions since 2010, meaning that Vistra has realized 78% of its target to reduce Scope 1 CO₂ equivalent emissions by more than 50% by 2030.
Retiring four coal plants totaling approximately 2,000 megawatts (MWs) in Illinois and announcing plans to retire a fifth coal plant of 585 MWs by year-end 2022, which will further advance Vistra's progress toward its 2030 emissions reduction target. Vistra has retired nearly 13,000 MWs of coal-fueled plants since 2010 and plans to retire an additional approximately 7,000 MWs before 2030.
Joining as a founding member the Climate Leadership Council ("CLC"), an international policy institute created in collaboration with prominent business, opinion, and environmental leaders to promote a carbon dividends framework as the most cost-effective, equitable, and politically viable climate solution.

Safety

Introducing a new name, logo, and motto for the company's mindset around safety: Best Defense, which was derived from guidance by national workplace safety expert Dr. Todd Conklin, who has said, "Safety is not the absence of events. Safety is the presence of defenses."
Implementing, in 2020, early adoption of a variety of new procedures to keep our employees and contractors safe while maintaining our essential business operations in the wake of COVID-19. After 86 spring power plant maintenance outages, Vistra has not had one employee or contractor become infected with the COVID-19 virus at its work sites.

Renewable and No-Carbon Energy

Continuing development of nearly 450 MWs of battery storage and with a pipeline of approximately 3,000 MWs of additional solar and battery storage projects in Texas and California.
Supporting Coal to Solar and Energy Storage Act in Illinois, including converting coal generation sites to solar and energy storage, advancing the state's clean energy goals, and benefiting multiple downstate Illinois communities.
Offering more than 40 renewable-based plans to our retail electricity customers.
Introducing a 10-year view of the company, estimating that nearly 20% of Vistra's EBITDA and generation capacity will be derived from renewable assets by 2030.

Caring for Our Communities

Supporting our local communities across 11 states with more than $3.5 million in charitable giving in 2019.
Donating $2 million to communities in need in 2020 in light of hardships brought on by COVID-19 through donations to non-profits and social service agencies.

"The importance of electricity has never been more pronounced than it is today. Vistra is committed to providing affordable and reliable power to our nearly 5 million retail customers while also minimizing our impact on the environment, supporting our customers and the communities where we operate, and keeping our employees safe and healthy," said Curt Morgan, Vistra's president and CEO. "Since becoming a public company in 2016, Vistra has transformed its electricity generation portfolio from one that produced 70% of its output from coal to one that contributes less than 20% of its earnings from coal while also investing heavily in solar and battery storage facilities, with more to come. We are committed to being a leader in the climate change effort and have our sights set on reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, which can be achieved through the continued rotation of our generation base, supportive public policy, and technological advancements."

In addition to being an industry leader in the effort to address climate change, Vistra strives for excellence in employee safety, supply chain and employee diversity, community impact, and the customer experience. Vistra's 2019 Annual Sustainability Report addresses these topics and more. For additional information about our 2019 ESG initiatives and to download a copy of the report, please visit the Vistra website at vistraenergy.com/sustainability.

Media
Meranda Cohn
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Analysts
Molly Sorg
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About Vistra
Vistra (NYSE: VST) is a premier, integrated, Fortune 275 energy 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. and markets in Canada and Japan, as well. Serving nearly 5 million residential, commercial, and industrial retail customers with electricity and natural gas, Vistra is the largest competitive residential electricity provider in the country and offers over 40 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, the company is a large purchaser of wind power. The company is currently constructing a 400-MW/1,600-MWh battery energy storage system in Moss Landing, California, which will be the largest of its kind in the world when it comes online. 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 at https://www.vistraenergy.com/sustainability/

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
The information presented herein includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements, which are based on current expectations, estimates and projections about the industry and markets in which Vistra Energy Corp. ("Vistra") operates and beliefs of and assumptions made by Vistra's management, involve risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict and are not guarantees of future performance, that could significantly affect the financial results of Vistra. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, that are presented herein, or in response to questions or otherwise, that address activities, events or developments that may occur in the future, including such matters as activities related to our financial or operational projections, the potential impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows, projected synergy, value lever and net debt targets, capital allocation, capital expenditures, liquidity, projected Adjusted EBITDA to free cash flow conversion rate, dividend policy, business strategy, competitive strengths, goals, future acquisitions or dispositions, development or operation of power generation assets, market and industry developments and the growth of our businesses and operations (often, but not always, through the use of words or phrases, or the negative variations of those words or other comparable words of a future or forward-looking nature, including, but not limited to: "intends," "plans," "will likely," "unlikely," "believe," "confident", "expect," "seek," "anticipate," "estimate," "continue," "will," "shall," "should," "could," "may," "might," "predict," "project," "forecast," "target," "potential," "goal," "objective," "guidance" and "outlook"),are forward-looking statements. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although Vistra believes that in making any such forward-looking statement, Vistra's expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, any such forward-looking statement involves uncertainties and risks that could cause results to differ materially from those projected in or implied by any such forward-looking statement, including, but not limited to: (i) adverse changes in general economic or market conditions (including changes in interest rates) or changes in political conditions or federal or state laws and regulations; (ii) the ability of Vistra to execute upon the contemplated strategic and performance initiatives and to successfully integrate acquired businesses; (iii) actions by credit ratings agencies; (iv) the severity, magnitude and duration of pandemics, including the COVID-19 pandemic, and the resulting effects on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows; and (v) those additional risks and factors discussed in reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission by Vistra from time to time, including the uncertainties and risks discussed in the sections entitled "Risk Factors" and "Forward-Looking Statements" in Vistra's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and any subsequently filed quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

Any forward-looking statement speaks only at the date on which it is made, and except as may be required by law, Vistra will not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which it is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible to predict all of them; nor can Vistra assess the impact of each such factor or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement.

SOURCE Vistra