NRG Energy made a deal with the California Public Utilities Commission that calls for NRG to invest $100 million over the next four years to build a comprehensive EV charging network.

NRG Energy (NYSE: NRG) has made a deal with the California Public Utilities Commission that calls for NRG to invest $100 million over the next four years to build a comprehensive EV charging network. The agreement resolves an outstanding lawsuit that arose from a decade-old dispute between the state and a related company that was involved in the famous Enron debacle.

The fee-based network will include at least 200 public fast charging stations – which can add 50 miles of range in 15 minutes – in the Golden State’s largest metro areas. NRG will also install the wiring for at least 10,000 individual charging stations located at homes, offices, schools and hospitals.

“With this agreement, the people of California will gain a charging infrastructure ready to support their current and future fleet of electric vehicles,” said David Crane, NRG’s CEO. “And we will be helping the state meet its clean car goals as embodied by its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate. California already leads the way in the development of an alternative energy transportation sector and, with the price of gasoline above $4 per gallon and rising, all Americans need to be giving serious consideration to the increasingly attractive electric vehicle alternative to what former President Bush called ‘our national addiction to foreign oil.’ This network will be built with private funds on a sustainable business model that will allow NRG to maintain and grow the network as EV adoption grows.”

Image: NRG Energy