2022 TxN 20: Texan-led leadership in conservation for a sustainable future in Energy.
The Texan by Nature team is excited to present the fourth annual list of Texan by Nature 20 (TxN 20) Honorees. TxN 20 recognizes outstanding work in conservation and sustainability from Texas-based businesses.
It’s an opportunity to showcase innovation, commitment to conservation, and best practices from the industries keep Texas running: Agriculture, Architecture, Financial Services, Food, Beverage, & Grocery,Technology, Energy, Healthcare, Municipal Services, Retail, Transportation, and Construction & Manufacturing.
Meet the 2022 TxN 20 Honorees leading sustainability in Energy: NRG Energy and Vistra Corp.
Solar and energy storage projects in Texas totaling ~850MW — 2022 Honoree Vistra Corp
Who is Vistra Corp?
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.
How does Vistra Corp set the standard?
Since 2002, Vistra Corp’s Trees for Growth has provided 300K trees through their Trees for Growth program and helped generate environmental savings and health benefits for municipalities and residents valued at ~$37 million annually during the life of the trees. Vistra’s largest financial investment in sustainability is the transformation of its generation portfolio toward low-to-no carbon-emitting resources by responsibly retiring coal assets and investing in transformational growth investments such as solar and energy storage. On. Sept. 29, Vistra announced Phase 1 of its solar and energy storage projects in Texas, a total of ~850MW, which represent a capital investment of approximately $850 million.
Vistra also saved 4 billion gallons of water this year — since 2010, Vistra has reduced the total water withdrawn by 42%. 98% of water withdrawn is discharged. While the use of water is imperative to producing electricity from thermal generation, Vistra understands that water is a limited, expensive, and shared resource that is essential to life. In addition to strong stewardship, conservation is a primary focus at each of Vistra’s generation facilities.
Fresh produce for ≈ 3,000 people annually through NRG Dewey Prairie Garden — 2022 Honoree NRG Energy
Who is NRG Energy?
NRG Energy is a Fortune 200 energy company that provides stable energy through traditional and renewable sources. NRG is paving the way to a brighter, sustainable future and more options for getting there with data, technology, and convenience.
How does NRG Energy set the standard?
The NRG Dewey Prairie Garden is a reclamation project of 10 acres of lignite mine near Jewett, Texas; the service garden was created by NRG Energy in partnership with Texan by Nature. The reclaimed land, which was formerly a lignite mine, includes a wetland area, pollinator habitat, and future orchard that will provide 10,000 lbs of fresh produce annually and fresh produce for ≈ 3,000 people annually to alleviate food insecurity in Leon, Freestone, and Limestone Counties.
Reliantgives, NRG retail brand Reliant’s charitable program, contributed over $5.5 million dollars and 4,000 volunteer hours to 150 local causes. Reliantgives partners with sustainability and conservation-focused non-profits, including EarthShare, Dallas Zoo, Central and West Texas Zoo, Texas State Aquarium, Galveston Bay Foundation, and the Dallas Arboretum. Additionally, as one of Dallas Zoo’s corporate partners, Reliant has contributed $650K+ to Dallas Zoo over 4 years and provides critical general operating support and support of conservation efforts in 32 countries and 4 continents around the world. The largest part of their conservation spending is on Texas Wildlife conservation efforts.
Why Forward Thinking Leaders in Energy Matter
Energy is a key industry in facing the climate crisis. As a national energy leader, models of environmental sustainability by Texas companies set the standard for other states and the globe. Last year, Texas produced more net energy than any other state in the country, and produced 26% of the nation’s wind power. The leadership of Energy companies like NRG and Vistra are driving the positive change needed to ensure Texas can sustainably meet energy needs in the future.
How TxN20 Honorees Are Selected Each Year
To select the 2022 TxN 20 Honorees, the TxN Team evaluated submissions and conducted independent research across 2,000+ of Texas’ publicly traded and private companies in 12 key industry sectors.
All companies were evaluated on a 17-point scoring system, from which the top 60 highest-scoring companies moved on to the final round of TxN 20. A selection committee of top industry leaders and experts was then formed to evaluate the top 60 companies and select the final 20 businesses recognized as TxN 20 Honorees.
Honorable Mentions: Standouts in Sustainability
In addition to this year’s TxN 20 honorees, here are three industry standouts for best practices in conservation and sustainability coming from companies across the agriculture industry.
Industry Innovator: Pioneer Natural Resources
Pioneer Natural Resources, an oil and gas exploration and production company, taps into the pioneer spirit of West Texas to bring innovation to the oil and gas sector. Pioneer has invested $134 million in The City of Midland’s wastewater treatment facility with the goal of using the reclaimed water that will be generated by the facility for operations in place of scarce groundwater in the Permian Basin. Pioneer is also contributing to efforts to protect the Lesser Prairie Chicken through a Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CAA) with US Fish and Wildlife Services to mitigate the impact of operations on Lesser Prairie Chicken Habitat.
Industry Innovator: NextEra Energy
NextEra Energy is an energy and infrastructure company that invests in making infrastructure and energy production more efficient and mitigating the impact of energy production on wildlife. Since 2012, NextEra has invested nearly $40 billion in renewable energy generation and battery storage advancement and is the world’s largest generator of sun and wind energy. To advance wind energy while protecting birds like eagles, NextEra is piloting an emerging technology called IdentiFlight to track and protect eagles in real time.
Industry Innovator: Shell
Shell is one of the world’s leading energy companies, and they are using their leadership position in the global market to promote innovation in energy. The Shell Eco-Marathon is a competition in which students engineer energy efficient, low emissions vehicles to drive progress in transportation. Shell also administers the Accelerate to Zero program, which offers support to companies decarbonizing their business fleet.
Get Involved:
Is your company at the forefront of sustainability in Texas? Share your work with Texan by Nature by submitting Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) data that showcases how your company benefits people, prosperity, and natural resources to programs@texanbynature.org.
To be considered for the official TxN 20 list, companies must:
- Have operations and employees based in Texas;
- Share a demonstrated commitment to conservation & sustainability;
- Showcase tangible efforts, impact, and data in conservation;
- NOT be a conservation-based nonprofit (501c3).