Another Fortune 500 company, NRG Energy, has announced a move to Texas, largely due to restrictive blue-state regulations, KHOU-11 reported.
Texas has benefited greatly from companies across the United States abandoning blue states, seeking freer places.
NRG’s currently splits its headquarters between Princeton, New Jersey, and Houston, Texas. But because of New Jersey’s leftist economic policies, the company has decided to fully move to Houston.
“As the company makes progress against Direct Energy integration milestones, it will continue to evaluate real estate needs and consolidate as appropriate,” a company spokesperson announced.
According to NRG, a significant number of its employees also live in Texas.
Houston’s Democrat mayor, Sylvester Turner, issued a statement on NRG’s move to the city full time.
“I welcome today’s announcement by NRG designating Houston as the company’s sole corporate headquarters,” he said. “I believe the decision is confirmation that Houston is a smart city for business.”
According to Turner, the decision “provides stability for the company’s 3,000 employees currently living in Houston” because it shows that the company is committed to Texas long-term.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, likewise welcomed NRG to the state.
“We are proud to welcome NRG Energy’s corporate headquarters to Houston as they expand their already strong presence in the Lone Star State,” he wrote.
Abbott noted the fact that over 50 of the Fortune 500 companies now call Texas their home. That number includes 22 in the greater Houston area alone.
The governor also cited the state’s “welcoming business climate, low taxes, reasonable regulations, and our young, growing, and skilled workforce”—all qualities that blue states like New Jersey fail to provide—as the primary reasons for NRG’s move.
