The future for Houston-based NRG Energy Inc. includes natural gas and retail consumer services with less coal-fired generation, CEO Mauricio Gutierrez said recently.

The integration of Direct Energy, a natural gas retailer, along with a growing integrated consumer services platform, were the major drivers for increased earnings in the second quarter, Gutierrez said during a conference call.

“The acquisition of Direct Energy in January marked the next step in our journey to complete our three-year transformation plan into a consumer services company,” he said. “The acquisition brought scale to our natural gas and service businesses.”

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In the near term, NRG...