IRVING, Texas, Dec. 31, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- As 2020 comes
to a close, Vistra is reflecting on how, in this year that has
tested the nation on dual fronts, the company followed its core
principles to respond. Vistra and its employees adapted and shifted
strategies throughout the pandemic to support customers and
communities and maintain the essential power to keep this nation
running. And Vistra reaffirmed and extended efforts to support the
advancement of diverse communities, minority-, women-, and
veteran-owned small businesses, and equity in education.
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"This year has handed us many lessons, chief among them being
that corporations must expand their purpose beyond just
shareholders to a more diverse set of stakeholders, and they must
stand up and be part of the solution," said Curt Morgan, chief executive officer of Vistra.
"At Vistra, this means investing in our employees, putting
customers first, and making a genuine effort to better the
communities where we live, work, and serve. No one could have
predicted the adversity 2020 would bring, but I'm proud of the way
this company responded. Our teams delivered with strength and
expertise and dug deep to find new ways to support our customers,
communities, and each other."
A look at the numbers reveals the broad extent of Vistra's
community and customer support in 2020:
- Committed $2 million in direct
COVID-19 relief
- Donated money to more than 100 agency partners
- Assisted neighbors in over 50 cities
- Supported 12,400 customers with bill payment assistance through
$3.1 million in donations
- Waived late fees, extended payment dates, and arranged payment
plans for customers
- Bridged the digital divide with 2,000 computer donations to
underserved youth through its partnership with Comp-U-Dopt
- Provided nearly 180,000 masks and face coverings to employees
and their family members, area hospitals, and schools
- Provided critical access to meals through more than
$500,000 in contributions to food
banks and food pantries across the country
Additionally, Vistra pledged $10
million over the next five years to organizations working
for social justice and equity. Vistra's 2020 donations
included:
- $500,000 to support the work of
the National Urban League in eight cities
- $450,000 to support Historically
Black Colleges and Universities
- $250,000 to college scholarship
funds supporting Black and Hispanic students
- More than $100,000 to advance
Black and Hispanic Chambers of Commerce
Within the workplace, Vistra also doubled-down on its commitment
to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The company launched multiple
initiatives, including hosting nearly 30 listening sessions on
race, creating a diversity, equity, and inclusion advisory council,
enhancing its employee resource groups, training hiring managers,
eliminating degree requirements for certain positions, initiating
career advancement pathways for employees without degrees, and
expanding diverse external recruiting efforts through new
relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Vistra similarly maintained its strong commitment to supplier
diversity, spending nearly 13% of its procurement dollars with
small business enterprises and continuing to prioritize
relationships with diverse businesses.
"I have never been more proud to work with a group of people.
Despite 2020's challenges, our team members continued to provide an
essential product, electricity, and helped our customers and
communities while, at the same time, we collectively looked inside
of our own walls to take care of our people and become a better and
stronger workplace," Morgan added.
Vistra appreciates the dedication of its team members, many of
whom continued to report to their physical work locations to
perform our essential services, while others managed a new and
challenging work-from-home environment, including balancing the
education of their children. COVID-19 and the company's drive for
social equity and justice also added countless special projects for
many of our employees in addition to their standard workload. In
recognition of these extraordinary efforts, Vistra rewarded all
employees with a meaningful one-time bonus and an additional paid
day off in December. This investment in Vistra employees, a thank
you, is in addition to the company's annual incentive bonus paid
out every spring.
About Vistra
Vistra (NYSE: VST) is a leading, Fortune
275 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. 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 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,
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.vistracorp.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 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, capital allocation, 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 Dec. 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.
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SOURCE Vistra Corp.