Eversource and National Grid Recognized for Initiatives to Protect Health & Safety of Customers and Contractors during COVID-19

WALTHAM, MA. (November 17, 2020) – Eversource and National Grid, two of the seven electric and natural gas utilities and energy efficiency service providers that collaborate under the Mass brand, have been selected to receive the  “On-Premise Project Construction and Installation” award as part of the Northeast Clean Energy Council’s (NECEC) Clean Energy Back to Work Challenge. The two companies are being recognized for their leadership of efforts to develop COVID-19 health and safety guidelines specific to energy efficiency work.

Eversource and National Grid brought together utilities across Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, and engaged Environmental Health & Engineering, a health and safety consulting firm, as well as energy efficiency contractors and community organizations to develop these guidelines. The guidelines include personal protective equipment (PPE), social distancing and sanitizing requirements in line with the latest recommendations for reducing the spread of COVID-19 and take into account the unique scenarios contractors may find themselves in during the course of installing energy efficiency upgrades in customer homes and businesses.

“Keeping contractors and customers safe and healthy has always been and will continue to be our top priority,” said Tilak Subrahmanian, Vice President of Energy Efficiency at Eversource. “During such uncertain times we wanted both customers and contractors to feel as safe and as confident in our guidelines as possible, which for us meant working together with fellow energy service providers and utilities, community stakeholders and energy efficiency contractors themselves to design health and safety guidelines that were both comprehensive and effective for our unique circumstances.”

At the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, both Eversource and National Grid temporarily suspended in-home and on-site energy efficiency services to protect the safety of customers and contractors until it was determined that such services could be completed safely. The health and safety guidelines developed allowed such work to resume safely, putting contractors back to work in the field, helping customers save more money on their energy costs, and keeping the region on track to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals. The guidelines were adopted by utilities and energy efficiency program administrators in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and Rhode Island, providing consistency for contractors that work throughout the region.

“It was a collaborative, thoughtful and intentional effort to protect contractors and customers from the spread of the virus,” said John Isberg, Interim SVP, Chief Customer Officer at National Grid. “At the same time, we also tried to be cognizant of the difficult and unprecedented economic climate so many community members unexpectedly found themselves in. We wanted to do what we could to keep contractors working and simultaneously provide both incentives and energy-saving solutions to customers who were now spending more time than ever at home.”

NECEC, a business association of clean energy stakeholders dedicated to growing the region’s clean energy economy, created the Clean Energy Back to Work Challenge initiative as a way to recognize innovative projects from clean energy organizations that successfully adapted their business practices following the onset of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The winning projects were selected by a panel of representatives from NECEC’s member organizations and announced during a virtual award ceremony held on Thursday, November 12.

About Mass Save®:

Together, we make good happen for Massachusetts.

Your local electric and natural gas utilities and energy efficiency service providers are taking strides in energy efficiency: Berkshire Gas, Cape Light Compact, Eversource, Liberty Utilities, National Grid and Unitil.

As one under the Mass Save^® brand, we share the common goal of helping residents and businesses across Massachusetts save money and energy, leading our state to a clean and energy efficient future.

These programs and services are managed and delivered by electric and gas Sponsors (working closely with the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources), providing the energy expertise to help you save energy and money. The funding is supported from a charge on customers’ energy bills. Through the collaborative efforts under the Mass Save brand, Massachusetts has earned top ranking as the #1 state in the nation for energy efficiency according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) for 10 years in a row.