Eversource Community Impact

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Welcome to Pulse of the Region,brought to you by the Metro Hartford Alliance.
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(00:44):
enrichment opportunities. Learn more at okillctdot org. Now here's your host for
Pulse of the Region, Kate Ballman. Hello, Hello, and welcome to
Pulse of the Region, the showwhere we get to highlight all of the
great things happening here throughout our greaterHartford region. I'm your host, Kate
Allman. Here today in the beautifuliHeartMedia Studios in our lovely capital city of

(01:07):
Hartford, Connecticut, where today weare getting the pulse about ever Source and
the company's vast community impact here inour region and also the vast impact across
the state of Connecticut. So I'mthrilled to have our three smiling guests who
are so far I haven't scared themaway here in our studio with us today.
And so joining the conversation is wehave three members of the ever Source

(01:29):
team. So first is Doug Horton. So Doug is the vice president of
distribution and rates. So Doug,welcome to Pulse of the Region. Thank
you, Kate, thanks for havingus, of course, of course,
no thrilled to have you. Andnext from ever Source is their director of
community Relations. It's Jeff Pouglice.So Jeff, welcome to Pulse of the
Region. Hi, Kate, thankyou very much for having us. Good
to see you, of course,good to see you too. It's always

(01:52):
nice to be in person, whichis always fun. I feel like sometimes
you see people or quick at events. Today we've got you captured in the
studio for the next thirty minutes tobe here. Thank you, wonderful and
last what certainly not least is sheis the program manager for corporate Citizenship at
ever Source. Anna Alfaro, soAnna, welcome to the show. Thank
you so much, Kate. Goodto meet you. Good to meet you

(02:13):
too. I know, excited tohave you here today. And you know,
again I think you know ever Sourceis to truly plays such an impactful
role here. So excited to havethe conversation today. And you know,
first things first, we always kindof kick off the show with some introductions
or in many cases reintroductions, andso Doug, if you don't mind,
I'm sure many of our listeners knowWhoever Sources, but if you can talk

(02:36):
a little bit about the organization andreally the company's footprint here in our state.
Absolutely, and again thanks Kate forhaving us today. Really look forward
to the discussion. Definitely. There'sthere is so much going on and as
you said, certainly a lot ofour customers and residents and businesses in Connecticut
no Ever Source. But just toreinforce, we own the infrastructure that provides
vital utility services of electric, gas, and water, deliver read to our

(03:00):
customers. We have a strong presencehere in Connecticut, and we'll talk a
lot about that today we provide thoseservices to nearly one point seven million customers
in the state across one hundred andfifty fifty seven cities and towns. Our
four thousand Connecticut based employees are dedicatedto providing reliable, safe, electric,
water, and gas delivery service toour customers and really take great pride in

(03:22):
doing that. And we're here todayto talk about two areas in particular where
we're contributing to our community. Firstbeing education and support about energy rates energy
rate which is of course top ofmind for a lot of residents and businesses.
And the second is our company's corporatecitizenship role that we play and also
take great pride. And as youmentioned my role, I'm the vice president

(03:45):
of distribution Rates at ever Source andmy team is responsible for all of the
rate filings that go before our regulatoror pure here in Connecticut. Okay,
nice, Nice, Well that's whereand I do have to give mention it
because if not, I'll never beable to go to another family party where
my dad had the privilege of whereworking with you and also on the distribution
rate. So I think I wasborn and raised as someone maybe not with

(04:05):
that math mind, but knowing moreabout the rates of electricity as a you
know, a ten year old thanprobably many kids. Big shout out to
Bob. I actually worked for himfor a time and I brought a poker
chip that I'll give to you andhas a backstory. He used to Oh
my goodness, give team. He'ssort of a legend in the game.
Yes, mentioned so he would givefolks a poker chip as a reward for

(04:28):
good behavior. And I still havethem in my desk in my office.
Oh my gosh. Oh that's superspecial. Oh my goodness, I'm I'm
getting this question. Thank you somuch. Oh my goodness, that's her.
He was very excited the amount ofhe was like he wanted to do
a lot more show prep today.I think we're a good dad, but
I appreciate it, so, youknow, with that, so thank you
so much, Doug. And youknow, so when at Jeff and An,
I really would love to dive inon the work that you're doing,

(04:48):
you know, kind of for theorganization. So Jeff, why don't we
start with you if you could talka little about your role. Sure.
Well, thank you again, Katefor having us. I'm director of community
Relations forever source here in Connecticut,and our role is to own and manage
the relationship between the company and thecities and towns that we serve, and
that's something that we take very seriously. Our municipalities are a very key stakeholder
for us, so whether it's thechief elected official, the emergency management director

(05:12):
of the municipal stakeholders, we haveto make sure that relationship is in a
good place. As Doug mentioned,we serve one hundred and forty nine of
one hundred and sixty nine communities inConnecticut through electric service, and then also
have some communities that of course havegas service and some dual communities. So
we also play a key role inowning and managing the relationship between the company
and a lot of external stakeholders likeChambers of commerce and nonprofit organizations, industry

(05:34):
specific associations, so we take thatresponsibility also very seriously. We also play
a role on the community impact grantfront. You know, some of the
smaller donations. Our ever Source Foundationpartners handle some of the larger charitable contributions,
and I'm sure we'll speak to that, but we play a role on
that front as well. And finally, we own and manage the companies,

(05:55):
participation in the state's tax credit processthrough the purchase of historic tax credit for
you know, historic properties downtown throughoutthe state. Also we work with the
Connecticut Housing Finance Authority on affordable housingefforts in the purchase of those tax credits,
and also supporting the nonprofit community andtheir energy efficiency efforts through the Neighborhood
Assistance Act. So very busy,a lot going on, but we wouldn't

(06:16):
have it any other way. Iwas going to say a lot, and
I think, you know, kindof all throughout that is really the one
kind of word that comes top ofmind is really partner because I really look
at ever source with each municipality isworking with them, working with the businesses
in the town, working with individualson how can you know we all do
this together? And that's something that'salways stood out to me as incredible.
So appreciate the work that you guysdo day in and day out, and

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if you could talk a little bitabout kind of what does your day to
day role look like there within theorganization, absolutely, Kate, thank you
so much. Well. In corporateCitizenship, I'm the program manager and we
every day are ensuring that the communitywe serve is receiving the benefits that are

(06:58):
there for them. And with theemployee giving program and employee volunteerism. Last
year we had over eight hundred employeeswho made a difference in our communities with
community partners organizations locally here like MutualHousing, the Connecticut Science Center, and
employees volunteer and it's very rewarding forthem, and we want to make sure

(07:21):
that that that experience is rewarding forthem as well as for our community partners.
And we do partner with community relationsand other departments in the company to
be able to make that happen.Okay, very nice, No, and
a lot and we'll definitely talk moreon a lot of those partnership programs.
So first things first, and youknow you touched on it, Doug,

(07:43):
and kind of really today want tohighlight a couple of different areas really about
that work in the community. Andyou know, first thing too, is
you know, really a lot ofeducation that you're doing for residents in terms
of you know, electricity and energyrates. Is it can be a confusing
and overwhelming topic for many of us. And you know, so we're you
guys are doing a lot to supportour residents, and you know that part
of it is kind of what energyrates look like, so you know,

(08:05):
kind of first things first, Ithink it'd be great if we could pull
the curtain back a little bit andyou look at energy rates is you know,
and really how are those rates set? You know for those of us
like me, you know, whomay not have a full understanding of that
backdrop, absolutely, and it certainlyis not something that's top of mind or
folks can or need to take thetime to really understand. And there's a

(08:26):
lot of nuances and intricacies to it. So I appreciate you giving us the
platform to talk about. Of course, you know, I do often joke,
and I'm sure your father felt thesame. As the rates person at
a utility company, I have notbeen the most popular person at a party
since I've had the honor and privilegeof serving in that capacity. You know,
everybody struggles, you know, withthe amount they pay for the utility

(08:46):
bills that they serve. It's sucha vital resource. But of course,
in addition to you know, havingto pay the costs of the bill,
they also rely on us for havingsafe, reliable service and that comes at
a cost, and really all ofour rates are based and this is true
for every utility certainly across the country. Rates are set based on the cost

(09:07):
of providing service to customers, andso that's first and foremost. As we
have, as we do here inConnecticut, a very reliable and safe and
resilient system that comes with the investmentthat we've made in the system and the
costs that are associated with doing that. So that's important to understand as well.
But it's also important just to putinto context, in particular on our
electric bill side, which is reallyfront and center for a lot of customers,

(09:30):
especially with the high cost of electricityhere in New England. There's a
lot that goes into your utility bill, and at the end of the day,
customers really care about the total amountthat they pay. But I do
think it's helpful to understand that interms of the infrastructure that we own for
our transmission and distribution delivery system,we have about twenty five thousand miles of
circuits here in Connecticut, significant amountof infrastructure, and similar on the gas

(09:54):
and the water side of about thirtyfive hundred miles of mainz on that system
as well. The delivery portion ofthe bill both the local delivery and the
transmission portion really only accounts for abouttwenty to thirty percent of the bill.
There's four components of the bill,and great news is that here in Connecticut,
we've recently rolled out a new billformat which makes it a lot easier

(10:15):
for our customers to understand what they'repaying for and what the various drivers are.
One is the electric generation, whichis about half the bill, is
usually the most predominant portion of abill that customers pay. The utilities in
Connecticut do not own the generation thatflows through the infrastructure that we do own
and operate. We purchase that powerfor customers that take energy supply from US,

(10:37):
which is called standard service. Aboutseventy percent of our residential customers take
standard service from US. But thereare options to choose and to shop around
for the best price that you can, and we will talk about that.
We encourage our customers to do thatat ever source. We just serve as
a pass through for that. Forthe legendre the lines, we own the
lines and we literally pass the energythrough the infrastructure, but we also pass

(11:00):
those costs through to our customers,making no money or profit on it.
And again that's about half the bill. There's also a large portion of the
bill called the public Benefits Charge,which are for programs that we operate or
excuse me, administer on behalf ofand at the direction of the state legislature
or on behalf of or the directionof our regulator, and again make no
profit or markup on that portion ofthe bill. And that, as we'll

(11:24):
talk about in a bit, therewas a large increase that took place on
July first, and that was entirelywithin that public benefits portion of the bill.
These are programs again that we administer. They have value, they add
value, they come at a cost. We incur those costs and then pass
them through again without markup or profit. So the bottom line is to say
that of the total bill that customerspay, roughly sixty percent of the bill

(11:48):
varies throughout the year and over time, roughly sixty percent of the bill are
for things that were required to administerand to pass through our bills, but
do not make any profit. Orit's really just that transmission which is the
regional network or the local delivery portionthat we do own and we operate,
which like I said, is dependingon the time, roughly forty percent of

(12:09):
the bill. Okay, No,I really appreciate you you diving into that
because I think many people are unfamiliarwith that, and you know, and
certainly you ever source behind the scenesis doing a lot to kind of help
keep rates as consistent as possible,And if you could share a little bit
about your strategies and you know kindof how you're looking to approach that for
customers. Absolutely, and you mentionedit in terms of the collaboration and the

(12:31):
outreach, and I know this soundsa little bit nebulous and in the abstract,
but that is so important now.You know, in New England,
especially Connecticut Massachusetts, there are alot of you know, very ambitious clean
energy goals and policies that are takingshape that rely on a resilient and reliable
electric grid and rely on us tobe able to operate the system in ways

(12:54):
that it was not originally designed tooperate, or ways that it's not set
up or prepared to today. Andthat's not a bad thing. What it
does require, though, is that, you know, we have an open
and communicative dialogue where we can justunderstand priorities and talk about how we can
ensure that we have an equitable andaffordable clean energy transformation, so that we're

(13:15):
making investments that are aligned with ourstates policy objectives and goals and opportunities.
And I think that's one thing thatwe're really trying to do and again really
appreciative opportunities like this to just getthe word out. And we have many
fronts on which we're trying to engagein this discussion, not just here in
Connecticut but across our footprint to tryto ensure that we're having these thoughtful conversations

(13:37):
and really planning and thinking ahead becausea lot of these investments they're not short
term. They take several years toengineer, design, to cite, and
then to source and construct. Sowe need to be, you know,
having this collaborative dialogue and willing partnerson the state side and stakeholders that are
do this you know, every dayto get there. But in terms of
some specific things that customers can doin order to manage their bills and to

(14:01):
control their costs, there are somevery tangible things that we offer. I
mentioned the supply side. In Connecticut. There is a great website it's very
easy to navigate and to see,called Energized CT and you can go on,
and I encourage folks to do thatand to shop around. It shows
what is your ever source standard servicerate. Again, that's the largest portion
of your bill. You have theoption and choices to choose and to do

(14:24):
that at any point in time,and there could be some real savings where
you. Again, about seventy percentof our customers today are taking standard service
from us, and there's an opportunitypotentially to do better if you check that
website frequently. And then of coursewe have award winning energy efficiency programs that
we're very proud to administer and tosupport, and there's lots of opportunities available

(14:46):
to customers. Our website is agreat resource to see what is out there
and to get the conversation started tomake your home more energy efficient so that
you're using energy less and more efficientlyover time to save you some more money.
Okay, fantastic, you know,Jeff, I'll have you chime in
here too on any additional programs thatreally ever Sources offering again to work with

(15:07):
customers. As you know, peoplemay be approaching on how to you know,
kind of pay and plan for theirenergy bills. No, happy to
Kay and Doug set the table beautifully, as he often does. But we
have a number of other programs.We did launch a low income discount rate
in December of twenty twenty three,and that's based on household income or receipt
our participation in some sort of publicassistance program, so more for our most
vulnerable customers and residents throughout the stateof Connecticut. So that's something that is

(15:30):
available. We do offer certain protectionsbased on medical conditions and other factors,
and we make sure to be verycognizant and very sensitive times of the year
like the heart of winter, andmake sure there are utility protections in place,
again for our most vulnerable customers,but for customers at large as well.
So that's something that we focus on. There are matching payment programs available
through the Connecticut Energy Assistance Program,and we also have flexible payment plans available

(15:54):
to all customers. And as Dougmentioned, award winning energy efficiency programs,
we can come out and energy auditsboth on the commercial side and the residential
side. Our home Energy Solutions programis terrific and really right now needing to
do. Oh yeah, so thisis this is a good reminder. It's
a nice reminder for you. Yeah, you and all your listeners. Everybody
should take advantage of these because itcan only help. There's really no downside,

(16:15):
Okay, And Doug mentioned the website. We do have eversource dot com,
of course, but if you goto the bill help section or also
you can call one eight hundred twoeight six two eight two eight and a
member of our team will be happyto help you. Fantastic because yeah,
a lot of opportunities there. Andone thing, Doug, I want to
circle back on, is you toucheda little bit the rate adjustment that did
occur recently here at the beginning ofJuly. If you talk a little bit

(16:38):
about kind of what does that looklike, what are customers maybe seeing,
and you know, kind of whatdoes it look like the plan ahead for
that absolutely so, as I mentioned, there are four components of the bill
from the delivery side, those tendto change less frequently over time in the
course of rate cases. But whatcustomers are seeing on their bills July first

(16:59):
are for the two components that Imentioned, the energy supply and the public
benefits portion of the bill, whichchanged more frequently. What's happening in what
went into effect on July first?The largest increase for customers is an increase
to that public benefits portion of thebill, which prior to the rate change
was about twelve dollars a month fora typical residential customer. That portion of

(17:19):
the bill will increase from twelve dollarsto about fifty nine dollars a month,
taking effect on July first of thisyear, in remaining an effect through April
of next year. The reason forthat increase being so significant is that the
major driver of that component of thebill is to pay for the costs of

(17:40):
clean energy contracts for nuclear generation thatwe are required to enter into ever source
in UI on behalf of the statelegislature, which comes at a cost and
also produces a benefit at times.The overall net cost or benefit to customers
is based on actual market prices forenergy, and what happened is where market
prices for energy, which appear inthe energy supply portion of your bill,

(18:04):
have been very, very volatile overthe past several years, starting with COVID
and in the war in Ukraine,which really affects the market prices for energy.
Bottom line being that in twenty twentytwo, those contracts produced a significant
benefit to customers which was a greatthing at the time, and we passed
back that benefit to our customers aswas their right to have, which again

(18:27):
was a very good thing and helpedusuppress what would be otherwise higher bills.
But then in twenty twenty three,the market prices for energy, again a
good news story, calmed down abit. But that meant that these public
benefits contracts kind of flipped around fromnow being a benefit to customers to coming
at a cost. But the problemwas that in twenty twenty three, and

(18:47):
I know this is probably very difficultto follow the bouncing ball, but in
twenty twenty three, our rates werenot allowed by irregulator Pura to increase to
the level to reflect the actual coststhat were being incurred at the time.
And so what's happening now is we'rekind of getting the rates back up to
a normal level number one, toreflect the actual expected costs of those contracts

(19:10):
currently. But then there's also abalance from last year that was not collected
that we paid out as we hadto under the contracts and now have to
collect. So roughly half of theincrease that customers are seeing is due to
the fact that the bills were notraised in appropriate level last year, causing
there to be a large increase todayoffsetting that though at least for those customers

(19:32):
who take standard service from US.So again, for that energy supply,
which is still the majority of ourresidential customers, that increase will be offset
by a large reduction in the supplycosts for electricity. So at the end
of the day, for customers thattake standard service from US, they would
see their standard service rates going downfrom about one hundred and three dollars per
month prior to the change, downto about sixty three dollars a month,

(19:56):
meaning that the net increase in therate would be about eight dollars a month
overall increase. Okay, that doesn'ttake into account usage. We also have
to keep in mind that generally,especially with the weather being what it's been,
usage will increase over time. Andso you know, look at like
I said, we know, atthe end of the day, customers really
care about the total costs that they'repaying for their electricity. The drivers,
it's what it's useful to know.But they really care about the bottom line,

(20:18):
at least I do. And sowe're trying not only to get the
word out to educate, but towork collaboratively as best we can with Pure,
with other stakeholders to try to getto a rate making framework that allows
for more steady, stable, predictablerate changes over time. Because to the
extent we can also avoid any extremevolatility in these rate changes. It helps

(20:38):
customers be able to budget, toplan, and at the end of the
day to afford their bills. Definitelywell and greatly appreciate the work that goes
behind the scenes. And you shouldbe that one of the more popular people
at the party does all of this. I have to throw that in there,
so it's you know, but certainlydoing a lot, as you said,
to kind of create consistency as muchas possible in a very volatile industry.
So appreciate all those efforts, andyou know, certainly want to highlight

(21:00):
to a lot of the other effortshere. You know, you had mentioned
to you know, four thousand employeesthat are working here in Connecticut, a
huge footprint you know, throughout ourregion, throughout the state of Connecticut,
and there's so much that's being supportedfrom a corporate citizenship standpoint. So why
Jeff, First things first, ifyou had touched a little bit at the
beginning, but if you kind ofprovide a high over view look on really

(21:22):
what does corporate citizenship look like tooversource? Yeah, happy to kay.
I mean, we talked about ita little bit here, but we are
a very important stakeholder in the stateof Connecticut and across our entire service territory.
Doug mentioned we have over four thousandemployees Connecticut residents doing great work every
day in a variety of professional fields. We make a huge economic impact in
the state of Connecticut, from investmentin our system, to our charitable contributions

(21:44):
to again the purchase of tax creditsthat further historic preservation, affordable housing,
and other efforts. We are veryproud of the fact that we are a
strong corporate citizen, one of thestrongest in the state. We'll put our
record up against anybody, I'm happyto say, to many organizations, and
we partner our favorite We partner witha number of organizations who are doing great
work on the ground, including theMetro Heartford Alliance and other organizations here in

(22:06):
the Capital City, which we valueand treasure. And our mission is to
build a healthier, stronger, sustainable, and more equitable future for our customers
and our communities and again, that'ssomething we take very seriously and work at
across the company every single day.That's great. Thank you so much for
that overview. And you know,Anna, I want to talk with you
a little bit about the specific programsthat have re sourced supports. If you
could highlight some of those, Iknow there's many, we need another three

(22:29):
hours probably, but I would sayJeff and Doug mentioned most of them.
And in addition, I think toproviding the support to community organizations with a
group of employees, it could beten employees fifteen employees, depending on the
project that the organizations do have ordo need help. We also do inform

(22:52):
a lot of our community partners aboutthese programs, like the ones Jeff mentioned
on energy conservation and the match payment, because it's important for the organizations to
be aware of these programs that benefitthe customers that we serve. So,
as you mentioned, there are alot of different programs and services and we

(23:14):
always are, you know, makingsure that everyone is aware of them,
and in particular for us, youknow, with the employee volunteer program and
the employee giving programs. Yes,you know, it is a way that
we show every source, shows thatwe care for employees and that we care
for the community organizations that we serveand the community as a whole. And

(23:38):
so we do that by organizing differentvolunteer activities. As mentioned last year,
we had over fifty three volunteer activitieswhere over four thousand employees just in Connecticut
came together and provided service and madea difference with many different projects that you

(23:59):
are oranizations had. And just togive an example, the Heart for Athletic
STEM Career Day just around the cornerfrom us here our neighbors, we had
over fifteen employees help with their STEMCareer Day. Nice and the Connecticut Science
Center Saint Elizabeth House, which isa mutual house right here next to us,

(24:22):
we had employees there prepare and servelunch for the residents. So you
know, that's sort of like asmall example of a lot of the different
organizations and programs that we support throughoutthe state. Okay, that's great,
and it's wonderful. We had ashow and I can't remember when it was,
but with Special Olympics Connecticut, andthere's a lot of volunteers and a

(24:47):
lot of hard work that goes behindthe scenes on now one move is usually
around the second weekend in February,maybe the second or third week in February,
and we do have over one hundredemployees who valanced tier come together to
volunteer and is held at our Windsorcall center in Windsor. And then of
course you know our big event comingup. I know you said what's coming

(25:11):
up? Yes, I would liketo know what's the good things that we
can't get involved at the ever sourcehard from Marathon coming up and as Ober
nineteen, so we just started,actually we started just the real planning of
it. But you know we planthese events all through the year in partnership
of course with our Heart from Marathonfriends. And so that's a big event
that we have over two hundred employeeswho run and probably the same number who

(25:38):
volunteer at the finished line, theb a guard and all the different opportunities
that the Heart of Marathon has tovolunteer. We do have a water station
at Sheldon Street that's a good numberof employees volunteer there. So that is
really is a big event for us, and definitely we are really into it

(26:00):
now in the plan and that's greatwell and so wonderful for our community and
from an economic development standpoint to me, I always love going out to dinner
in Hertford on Thursday night because everyone, all the runners are coming in and
you're sitting in the restaurant and justasking people where they came from, and
it's it's incredible, And talk abouta way to spotlight Hertford, our region
and the state of Connecticut. Soappreciate all the efforts that you go in

(26:21):
and the support there. Thank youof course, of course. And you
know, Anna and Jeff, wouldO pose this question to each of you,
is you know your feedback from employees, because I think that's one thing
you know, that is so important. It is really you know, at
least from my perspective over the yearshere in the market is a lot of
employees stay at ever Source for manyyears and you know, really build their
careers there. And I'm sure thisyou know, volunteerism piece is I would

(26:44):
guess a part of that. AndI don't know if one Jeff, we'll
have you kind of touch on thatfirst. Yeah, I mean, and
I can give a more global perspective, you know, feedback from our employees.
But I have a personal story.Last year I participated in the Source
to see cleanup at Cole Park herein Hartford, and it was a wonderful
event. I learned a lot.First of all, I love being on
the grounds at Cole Park, andI had never really spent a lot of

(27:06):
time there. Huge baseball guys,so I love the layout of all the
baseball fields and the tributes to RobertoClemente. That was very, very cool.
I learned a lot about how trashtravels, and you can see some
trash on the ground in a parkand one of our beautiful parks here in
Hartford, it very quickly ends upin the Connecticut River and our waterways and
could really have a detrimental impact onour environment. So we were doing good
work on that front. But froman internal perspective, I also got to

(27:30):
work with ever Source employees that Idon't really know and never really cross paths
with professionally, and now I've justbased on that one volunteer event, that
one experience. Now we have professionaland even personal relationships that have grown as
a result of that. And itwas a great day to spend together.
And so not only is it areally good community impact, but it's really
good for personal and professional development whenit comes to our over source teammates,

(27:52):
So a really really good thing thatwe do. That's great. And I
would just say that what Jeff mentionedabout the employee meeting other employees is it
is probably in addition to feeling theemployee feeling very rewarded about giving back,
is the fact that they meet newemployees or employees that they never met or
would not have the opportunity to bein that volunteerism spirit to give back to

(28:17):
the community. And so that's oneof the big highlights that I hear on
the volunteer program for employees. Andthen the other that I find very interested
and it's really real, is thefact that employees who live in the community
that probably let's say, right hereare Children's Street in hard for or fifty

(28:40):
six p they drive by saying ElizabethHouse probably almost every day, and they
never knew that organization existed. Sothe relationship that is built after volunteering and
supporting that organization, employees remain engagedfor the mission of the organization. And

(29:00):
I hear that pretty much everywhere throughoutthis day where employees come together and volunteer,
that they were not aware that thatorganization existed or the mission that the
organization provides to the residents or ourown customers. Right, definitely, No,
that's right, cousin. Actually heworks at eversource and he was number

(29:22):
one thing he said is he goesI never would have known these organizations existed,
and then he does more to volunteerthere. So because of the efforts
that you guys have so which isabsolutely incredible. So for listeners that want
to learn more about all of yourcommunity efforts, Jeff, where is a
good place for them to go?Okay, So, first and foremost,
each city in town that we serveas a dedicated community relations specialist. So
for municipal officials, they can reachout any time on any issues of concern

(29:45):
for the municipality. It's important toour municipal partners, it's important to us,
so we have what we call ourcrs on the ground. Okay,
you can also always go to eversourcedot com as well, but if you
have a specific community relations inquiry,you can go to CT or you can
email see tea community relations at eversourcedot com. That comes right to our
inbox for cr as we call ourselvesinternally, and we'll be happy to get

(30:06):
you to the feedback that you need. Fantastic and Doug, it was great.
You provide a lot of resources onwhere individuals can go. Can you
just remind people of those websites?Absolutely? Yes. So there's energized ct
dot com. That's where you cango to check and shop around for supply
rates, and I encourage you todo that and try to set up reminders
to do it often. We've alsodropped eversource dot com a number of times.

(30:27):
It's a great resource for energy efficiencyas well as other help. But
also eversource dot com. Slash Solutionsis a website that we stood up specifically
to try to put an easy,one stop shop for information about rates and
in particular the rate change that Idescribed earlier. Fantastic, well, super
helpful. Please chime in. No. I was just going to add to
that is the fact that organizations thathave a project where they need a couple

(30:52):
of employees, they could go toour eversource dot com under the voluntaries and
then requests, you know, requestthe employees to help and balance Okay here,
okay, incredible. Well, thankyou to each of you and all
of your teams and the ever Sourcelarge team here at ever Source for all
the work that you guys are doinghere in the community, really appreciate it
and are very happy to have youas partners of the Metro Heartford Alliance and

(31:15):
certainly members of our community, sothank you also very much. Of course,
of course, for all the detailsabout today's show, you can visit
Pulse Offtheregion dot com. We'd liketo give a big thank you to our
show partner, Oak Hill, andof course thanks to you for listening.
I'm your host, Kate Bauman.Go out and make today a good day
here in Connecticut.