Capital Structure (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Class of Treasury Stock [Table Text Block]

Share Repurchases — During 2015 and 2014, the Company's board of directors authorized share repurchases of $481 million of its common stock, which were made as follows:



	Total number of shares purchased	Average price paid per share ^(a)		Amounts paid for shares purchased (in millions) ^(a)
Board Authorized Share Repurchases
Fourth Quarter 2014	1,624,360	$	26.95	$	44
First Quarter 2015	3,146,484	25.15		79
Second Quarter 2015	4,379,907	24.53		107
Third Quarter 2015	11,104,184	15.06		167
Fourth Quarter 2015	5,558,920	15.03		84
Total Board Authorized Share Repurchases	25,813,855			$	481

(a) The average price paid per share and amounts paid for shares purchased exclude the commissions of $0.015 per share paid in connection with the share repurchase.

Temporary Equity [Table Text Block]

The following table reflects the changes in the Company's redeemable preferred stock balance for the years ended December 31, 2016, 2015, and 2014:



	(In millions)
Balance as of December 31, 2013	$	249
Loss recorded in connection with extinguishment of 3.625% preferred stock and issuance of 2.822% preferred stock	42
Balance as of December 31, 2014	291
Accretion to redemption value	11
Balance as of December 31, 2015	302
Accretion to redemption value	2
Repurchase of 2.822% redeemable preferred stock	(226		)
Gain on redemption of 2.822% redeemable preferred stock	(78		)
Balance as of December 31, 2016	$	—

Changes in NRG's common shares issued and outstanding

The following table reflects the changes in NRG's common shares issued and outstanding for each period presented:



	Common
	Issued	Treasury		Outstanding
Balance as of December 31, 2013	401,126,780	(77,347,528	)	323,779,252
Shares issued under ESPP	—	128,336		128,336
Shares issued under LTIPs	1,707,419	—		1,707,419
Shares issued in connection with the EME acquisition	12,671,977	—		12,671,977
Share repurchases	—	(1,624,360	)	(1,624,360	)
Balance as of December 31, 2014	415,506,176	(78,843,552	)	336,662,624
Shares issued under ESPP	—	283,139		283,139
Shares issued under LTIPs	1,433,774	—		1,433,774
Share repurchases	—	(24,189,495	)	(24,189,495	)
Balance as of December 31, 2015	416,939,950	(102,749,908	)	314,190,042
Shares issued under ESPP	—	609,094		609,094
Shares issued under LTIPs	643,875	—		643,875
Balance as of December 31, 2016	417,583,825	(102,140,814	)	315,443,011

NRG's common stock reserved for the maximum number of shares potentially issuable based on the conversion and redemption features of outstanding equity instruments and the long-term incentive plans

The following table summarizes NRG's common stock reserved for the maximum number of shares potentially issuable based on the conversion and redemption features of the long-term incentive plans as of December 31, 2016:



Equity Instrument	Common Stock Reserve Balance
Long-term incentive plans	17,336,092

Dividends paid per common share

The following table lists the dividends paid per common share during 2016, 2015 and 2014:



	Fourth Quarter		Third Quarter		Second Quarter		First Quarter
2016	$	0.030	$	0.030	$	0.030	$	0.145
2015	$	0.145	$	0.145	$	0.145	$	0.145
2014	$	0.140	$	0.140	$	0.140	$	0.120