Let's look at who's behind it, what it is, how it can be used, and where the benefits accrue:

* Who: NRG, while not a utility, is an owner of utility-scale generation capacity. They wholesale electricity to utilities for distribution and resale. Their portfolio is largely fossil-fuel but increasingly renewables [1]. They see themselves in the "death spiral" some other generation suppliers do [3][4].

* What: Per [2], it's a combined natural-gas-in ( 50KW Th ) heat-out / grid-power-in / gas-to-electrical-power-out (Stirling engine, 10 KW max ) / grid-and-home-power-out (15KW max) / solar-power-in / battery-power-both-ways (15KW max) / inverter system, tech specs subject to change.

More per [2]:

  "A single unit can integrate natural gas, solar panels, 
  wind turbines and batteries for storage," NRG says. "The 
  device is connected to the grid, which allows the two to 
  work seamlessly together. But if the grid's power goes 
  down, the engine's energy stays up. Any excess generated 
  energy can be sent back to the grid and may be credited 
  for your benefit."
  .
  Aside from the 15 kW maximum electrical output, output 
  can be used for space heating (35 kW or 0.12 MMBTU) or
  hot water (200 gallons per hour at 70° rise). Additional 
  uses include snow melt and spa and pool heating.
  .
  The technical specifications are subject to change.
  .
  When necessary, the unit seamlessly transitions to a
  backup power system, to maintain continuous operations, 
  NRG says.
  .
  The Beacon 10 unit's dimensions are 3 ft. 8 in. long by 2 
  ft. 6 in. wide by 4 ft.high, which NRG says is slightly 
  larger than a washing machine.
  .
  The unit weighs 1,500 lbs. 

* How it can be used: Disrupt the utility's business by selling or leasing equipment directly to end users, and by doing energy arbitrage with the utility.

The whole business of solar integration and battery integration is optional, and smells of "greenwashing-by-association" to me: The cheapest install of this machine would not include a solar component nor battery, each of which might be very expensive in addition to this machine. Who could afford all that? Certainly not everyone.

* Where benefits accrue: See [5] for the long story, but it looks like NRG mainly. If you lease it from NRG, you may not get as much of the benefit of energy arbitrage.

* What I think of it: Regulators should insist on a "connection charge" for this and accept energy sold at wholesale prices, while selling to the user at retail prices. Disclosure: I own a solar system with net metering, but believe a "connection charge" is entirely reasonable /for those who have their own generation capability/ and thus use the grid for sale of distributed generation, but /not/ for those who don't.

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[1] http://www.nrg.com/renew/renewable-generation/

[2] http://www.energychoicematters.com/stories/20131022a.html

[3] http://www.utilitydive.com/news/facing-decline-nrg-energy-fo...

[4] www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/NRG-Energy-Deploying-Dean-Kamens-Solar-Smart-In-Home-Generator

[5] http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/11/who-wi...