NRG Energy generates and sells electricity, operating power generation plants and retail electricity businesses that sell power directly to residential and business customers in deregulated electricity markets. Unlike traditional regulated utilities that earn a guaranteed rate of return on infrastructure investment, NRG operates largely in competitive, deregulated power markets where it must compete on price and reliability to sell the electricity it generates. The company's retail electricity business sells power plans directly to consumers and businesses in states with deregulated electricity markets, giving NRG a consumer-facing sales channel alongside its wholesale power generation operations. NRG's revenue and profitability are sensitive to wholesale electricity prices, which fluctuate based on fuel costs, weather-driven demand and overall supply and demand balances in the competitive power markets where it operates.