FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MEDIA CONTACT:
Michael Jamison
[email protected]
203-997-7906

NEW YORK — September 17, 2021 — Avangrid Networks, a subsidiary of AVANGRID Inc. (NYSE: AGR) – a leading sustainable clean energy company, today announced the formation of the Avangrid Networks Excelsior Connect Environmental Justice Council. The announcement builds on the work of the company at its inaugural New York Energy Equity Roundtable earlier this summer, where various Environmental Justice (EJ) leaders joined Avangrid Networks to discuss how the company can use Excelsior Connect to foster greater diversity, equity and inclusion in the energy industry and in the communities that we serve.

“Avangrid Networks is committed to not only helping to build the clean energy infrastructure that is necessary to meet New York’s clean energy goals, but to helping ensure that EJ communities realize the benefits of those investments,” said Avangrid Networks President and CEO, Catherine Stempien. “As much as we focus on the nuts and bolts of operating our companies to the benefit of customers, we also focus on ensuring that projects benefit the communities they are designed to serve. Part of our commitment to sustainability is operating from a community-first approach.”

Leading by listening, the new EJ Council will include faith, social justice and civic leaders from communities along the proposed project route – New York City up through the Hudson Valley and Catskills. The Council will advise the Excelsior Connect SUNY/CUNY Clean Jobs Consortium, a first-of-its-kind public-private clean energy job training initiative launched earlier this year, on strategies to attract and retain students of color and individuals from low-income and minority neighborhoods and communities.

“Imagine the conversation in minority communities, to say that AVANGRID changed my life,” said Rev. Reginald Lee Bachus, of Mt. Ollie Baptist Church and The 400 Foundation. “[AVANGRID] gave me a skill. They gave me an opportunity to participate, to have the level of dignity and personal integrity that comes with knowing I have a good paying job, I’m making good benefits, and I’m doing all that I can to improve myself and my community.”

“The Excelsior Connect Environmental Justice Council provides an opportunity to help shape these critical next steps in building our clean energy future,” said The Rev. Dr. Kahli C. Mootoo – Pastor, The Historic Emanuel AME Church and Vice President & Co-Founder, The 400 Foundation. “If we took those very people in the poorest neighborhoods and trained them and gave them the tools and skills to have careers in green jobs, we could not only clean our environment, but we could also give them the economic resources that they need to build generational wealth and bring themselves into the American dream.”

“What is needed is serious, focused human resource development of BIPOC students, so that we can successfully guide them toward STEM careers,” said Rev. Dr. Gregory Simpson, Pastor of Nauraushaun Presbyterian Church and Co-Founder of Learning for Life Solutions. “Joining this Council will shine light on the root causes of this disparity and help us implement solutions.”

Background on Excelsior Connect: Avangrid Networks’ Excelsior Connect project will leverage the company’s global expertise to transmit 1200 MW of renewable wind and solar energy generated in upstate New York through a highly efficient and state-of-the-art High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) line to New York City. Avangrid Networks has submitted the proposed project to develop this all-underground clean energy superhighway in response to the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority’s (NYSERDA) Tier 4 Request for Proposals.

Collaborating throughout the proposal development process, Avangrid Networks has held more than 75 meetings with stakeholders across the state and region. As a result of the input from community stakeholders, the company has proposed a number of new and innovative ideas on which the newly founded Avangrid Networks Excelsior Connect Environmental Justice Council will advise, including:

• Excelsior Connect SUNY/CUNY Clean Energy Jobs Consortium, a first-of-its-kind consortium to develop clean energy career paths and training at various SUNY and CUNY community colleges for HVDC technology, heat pump technicians and other clean energy jobs.

• The Excelsior Connect Fund for NY, which will commit millions of dollars to support community development projects along the project route, with a particular focus on Environmental Justice (EJ) communities.

Avangrid Networks’ Excelsior Connect has signed a letter of intent with A.L. Consulting, a nationally known and New York-based Diversity and Inclusion firm to help identify and recruit Minority/Women-Owned Business Enterprises (M/WBEs) for the project to support the state’s goal to ensure that at least 40 percent of Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) benefits accrue to disadvantaged communities.

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About AVANGRID: AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $39 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, AVANGRID has two primary lines of business: Avangrid Networks and Avangrid Renewables. Avangrid Networks owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Avangrid Renewables owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. AVANGRID employs approximately 7,000 people and has been recognized by Forbes and Just Capital as one of the 2021 JUST 100 companies – a list of America’s best corporate citizens – and was ranked number one within the utility sector for its commitment to the environment and the communities it serves. The company supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2021 for the third consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.

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