Skip to main content

Community Relations and Economic Development

Fostering long-standing relationships and growth in our communities

Commitment 

Eversource Community Relations serves as the primary point of contact and the face of our company for state and local government officials as well as business leaders.

We are committed to initiating and fostering long-standing, professional relationships with community leaders. We partner on community priorities and leverage the full benefit of Eversource's operational, safety and advocacy experience to support the needs of town leaders, constituents and communities.

Guidelines

Governor_Baker_Drilling_CR

Community Relations' strong and positive relationships help maintain important two-way communications with the municipalities we serve and position us as a go-to resource for distributing key company information.

Our Executive Vice President of Customer and Corporate Relations, who reports to the CEO, has direct oversight of Community Relations and Economic Development. 

What does a Community Relations Specialist do? 

  • Respond to inquiries from officials and actively engage experts to resolve concerns
  • Provide advice, counsel and services relating to local government and community policies
  • Connect internal departments with external partners
  • Help municipalities with low-income and efficiency programs
  • Provide updates on energy-related projects to state, local and business officials
  • Share external relationships with community leaders to accomplish key business objectives and enhance relationships with those leaders and their communities

Emergency Response

Henri-Dunbarton-NH-1358-2048

Eversource activates its robust Liaison Organization during declared emergency events as part of the Community Relations commitment.

Each community within the impacted area is assigned a dedicated Community Liaison to address specific community needs who falls under the oversight of the executive vice president. Duties include: 

  • Conducting proactive outreach so that communication channels are open and available to each municipality
  • Advocating for their assigned municipality, contacting them in advance of, during and at the demobilization of an emergency event and helping to escalate community priorities
  • Providing ongoing communications including timely updates for large customer outages, crew locations, daily work plans and updates concerning impacts to critical facilities

Learn more about how to prepare your home or business in the event of a storm with our Storm Preparedness information.

Community Grants

United Way Hampshire County

Community Relations provides Community Grants to non-profit organizations within Eversource’s service territory.

These awards have benefitted thousands of citizens in our communities, addressing critical issues like hunger and homelessness, education, STEM programming, the environment and public safety.

Community Relations typically awards about $500,000 through approximately 250 community grants each year. Charitable grants range from $500 - $2,500 and are provided to community organizations that support one or more of our focus areas of giving.

  • Community Wellness and Basic Needs
  • Education
  • Clean Energy and Environmental Stewardship
  • Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
  • Community, Economic and Workforce Development

Economic Development

We're committed to engaging in activities that create economic growth, benefit the service territory and support our communities through Community Relations.

  • Hundreds of millions of dollars are invested in our energy delivery infrastructure
  • We employ 9,200 employees across New England
  • Grants are supplied for local economic and community development initiatives
  • Renewable energy projects and our award-winning energy efficiency programs are cost-effective and support local business and job creation

How do we do it? 

CR_EVs
  • Participate as a member and on boards of local business organizations, economic development groups and chambers of commerce. That includes sponsoring events and programs
  • Invest in community initiatives and tax credit programs for affordable and historic preservation that help revitalize communities
  • Assist with service connections and utility infrastructure to support new businesses
  • Lead strategic energy solution discussions for municipalities and businesses to support business recruitment and expansion
  • Support workforce development by making investments in STEM education and partnering with local colleges and universities on training and career development programs
  • Improve reliability and resiliency with our grid moderation, clean energy project development, electric vehicle expansion and battery storage projects while also providing opportunities to lower regional emissions

Contact Us

If your organization is interested in applying for a community grant, if you have economic development questions or would like a presentation about our economic development support, please contact your state representative:

CTCommunityRelations@eversource.com
MACommunityRelations@eversource.com
NHCommunityRelations@eversource.com

More Community Support

We support our communities in many other ways like volunteering and partnering in local events.

See more of our community initiatives