Schneider Electric, Citizens Energy Partner to Drive Equitable Energy Access in the Northeast
Schneider Electric, the global leader in the digital transformation of energy management and automation, and Citizens Energy Corporation, a Boston-based non-profit energy company, announced a strategic alliance forged to serve local communities in the Northeast in need of access to sustainable energy sources, as well as to align with initiatives set forth in President Biden’s infrastructure plan.
- Strategic alliance to support stronger national electrical infrastructure and customers’ Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) goals
- Collaboration focuses primarily to increase access to sustainable, dependable energy sources for communities often left behind
- Partnership aims to provide systems that increase energy infrastructure resiliency and lower electricity costs
Advancing green power access for all
Citizens Energy Corporation and Schneider Electric’s partnership is designed to support municipalities across New England and will expand to meet additional needs nationwide. Both public and private partnerships are in place to build projects aiding communities in crisis, while combating climate or other disaster-related outages.
“Schneider Electric is thrilled to solidify our relationship with Citizens Energy through this new strategic alliance,” said Donald Wingate, Vice President, Utility & Microgrid Solutions for Schneider Electric. “Their mission to ensure all people have access to clean energy resources for their basic needs is aligned with Schneider’s values and Sustainability Impact Goals to bring smarter, greener infrastructure to life that contributes to economic growth and climate action.”
Through this innovative partnership, Schneider Electric will support Citizens Energy’s existing storage and microgrid projects across the entire Northeast region, as well as drive new projects on an ongoing basis to benefit local and regional non-profit organizations and municipalities.
“Our partnership with Schneider Electric comes at a time when more communities than ever struggle to access affordable power that mitigates the effects of climate change,” said Citizens Energy’s Founder and Chairman Joseph P. Kennedy II. “As a result of severe weather that has caused widespread power outages, this partnership is designed to protect vulnerable communities. We’re proud to work with Schneider to make the green energy revolution accessible for all.”
Aligning with President Biden’s infrastructure plans
In the wake of President Biden’s recent unveiling of his infrastructure plan, which includes significant investments to reenergize America’s power infrastructure, the partnership arrives at an opportune moment to further invest in the technology that will provide communities with resilient energy sources.
This new partnership presents a valuable opportunity for municipalities to secure funding for energy infrastructure development ahead of any federal spending. The first project to result from this partnership was launched in Spring of this year on behalf of the Daughters of Mary of the Immaculate Conception, a social services institution in Connecticut. Citizens Energy Corporation is funding the microgrid using the Energy-as-a-Service (EaaS) business model allowing construction to be completed without any up-front costs to the Daughters of Mary. Additional projects will aid critical community structures like schools, hospitals, and emergency response centers with microgrid and energy resilience solutions.
Citizens Energy also partners with the Vineyard Wind project, the first large-scale offshore wind project in North America. Citizens Energy is responsible for managing the Resiliency and Affordability Program (RAP) for some of the projects’ host communities. The RAP could result in EaaS projects that benefit low-income residents of communities affected by the offshore wind project.
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