We have now processed 100% of the information received from the mid-April 55-day resettlement and issued all expected invoices to our customers.
The updated financial impact from winter Storm Uri, net of our mitigation efforts, is expected to be a net loss of $500 million to $700 million.
In total, our platform was positive $17 million with estimated bad debt, primarily from C&I customers accounting for $109 million.
First, the recently acquired Direct Energy portfolio had a heat recall option with a counterparty that did not perform, resulting in a $393 million gross loss.
Next, we are recognizing a $95 million gross loss due to ERCOT default allocations.
These losses comprised of a $83 million cash short pay, plus $12 million NPV of the remaining $102 million on to ERCOT over the next 96 years.
As a reminder, ERCOT realized defaults of $3 billion, primarily from through regulated co-ops, Brazos and Rayburn.
Finally, we are recognizing a $395 million loss due to ERCOT's management of the grid, particularly during the last 32 hours, when ERCOT kept the market clearing price at the cap, despite having more than 10 gigawatts in reserves.
To help put this in context for you, over no time in history has this charge exceeded $5 million.
In total, we expect our estimated gross financial losses to be reduced by $275 million to $475 million through bad debt mitigation, recovery of Direct Energy hedged nonperformance, ERCOT default and uplift securitizations and onetime savings, resulting in a net loss of $500 million to $700 million.
NRG delivered $567 million of adjusted EBITDA in the first quarter, excluding onetime financial impacts from the storm.
This is a 62% increase from the same period last year, primarily driven by the acquisition of Direct Energy.
As I mentioned before, we are reinstating our previous financial guidance of $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion for 2021, excluding Uri.
Following the close in early January, we immediately began the integration process, achieving $51 million of our 2021 synergy target.
In March, we announced the agreement to sell a 4.8 gigawatt portfolio of noncore fossil assets which helps simplify and decarbonize our portfolio.
And since the last earnings call, we increased our ERCOT renewable purchase power agreements by nearly 400 megawatts now totaling approximately 2.2 gigawatts.
Despite the impact of winter storm Uri, we expect to be at 3 times leverage by the end of 2021 after paying down $385 million of debt from cash available for allocation.
I will be providing more details on capital allocation and our full strategic outlook during our Spring Investor Day.
In ERCOT, we expect a return to normal 2% annual load growth with residential usage in ERCOT remaining slightly elevated as stay-at-home trends remain, while C&I usage improves throughout the year, returning to pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year.
In the East, we see similar trends, although we believe C&I recovery to be pre-pandemic levels could take an additional 12 to 18 months given stronger stay-at-home trends.
During the first quarter, we achieved $51 million or 38% of our 2021 synergy target.
We are on track to close on the 4.8 gigawatt asset sale in the fourth quarter.
For the quarter, NRG delivered $567 million in adjusted EBITDA or $218 million higher than the first quarter of last year, excluding $967 million impact from winter storm Uri.
This increase is driven by the acquisition of Direct Energy, which generates approximately 2/3 of its EBITDA during the winter months, given the seasonal shape of East electric and natural gas load.
Specific to Direct Energy, we are on track to realize $500 million of adjusted EBITDA in 2021.
We are also on track to achieve $135 million of synergies for 2021 as well with $51 million realized in the first quarter, and a goal of at least $300 million annual run rate by 2023.
Turning now your attention to the table on the right, the total anticipated growth impact from winter storm Uri is now $975 million.
We continue to pursue various offselling solution estimated to be in the range of $275 million to $475 million.
This would reduce the economic impact to a net amount of $500 million to $700 million.
From a cash standpoint, based on $150 million of estimated bill credits owed to large commercial and industrial customers in 2022, the total negative cash impact in 2021 is expected to be approximately $150 million lower at $350 million to $550 million, including the effect of the offsets previously mentioned.
Finally, we are reinstating our 2021 guidance at the original ranges of $2.4 to $2.6 billion for our adjusted EBITDA and $144 billion to $164 billion for our free cash flow before growth.
Starting from the left, on the third column, the net capital required for the Direct Energy acquisition was reduced by $38 million based on the latest estimate of the post-closing working capital adjustment.
The estimated winter storm Uri capital allocation impact is $825 million, net of anticipated customer bill credit outstanding at the end of the year, and would be at $450 million after deducting the midpoint of our estimated mitigation efforts of $375 million.
Absent any mitigation offset recoveries, which are shown in the far right of the chart, the company will still pay down debt by $385 million in 2021 and continue to delever over time to meet its credit profile goals.
I will start on the left with our 2021 credit metrics.
After adjusting our corporate debt balance for the reduction from our 2021 capital allocation and minimum cash, our 2021 net debt balance will be approximately $7.8 billion.
This, when based on the midpoint of our adjusted EBITDA, implies a ratio of just under 3 times to adjusted EBITDA at the end of the year.
We also wanted to update you on our latest liquidity position, which are -- which had $4.1 billion as of a few days ago, remains very strong and sufficient to continue supporting our business even during a period of stress.
Alberto is a seasoned finance expert who brings over 30 years of experience and a unique combination of consumer, technology, manufacturing and risk management experience.

Summary:
The updated financial impact from winter Storm Uri, net of our mitigation efforts, is expected to be a net loss of $500 million to $700 million.
In total, we expect our estimated gross financial losses to be reduced by $275 million to $475 million through bad debt mitigation, recovery of Direct Energy hedged nonperformance, ERCOT default and uplift securitizations and onetime savings, resulting in a net loss of $500 million to $700 million.
I will be providing more details on capital allocation and our full strategic outlook during our Spring Investor Day.
For the quarter, NRG delivered $567 million in adjusted EBITDA or $218 million higher than the first quarter of last year, excluding $967 million impact from winter storm Uri.
This would reduce the economic impact to a net amount of $500 million to $700 million.
I will start on the left with our 2021 credit metrics.