Comprehensive wildlife protection program reinforces energy company’s commitment to environmental stewardship

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (June 4, 2025) – As part of its ongoing efforts to provide safe, reliable electric service while being responsible stewards of the environment, Eversource today hosted its annual turtle protection program – Turtle-Palooza! – to strengthen its workers’ expertise protecting endangered turtles that call its rights-of-way home. With the support of wildlife experts and a specially trained turtle-sniffing dog, workers spent a full day in Agawam practicing spotting and safely relocating the turtles a few hundred feet away from areas where mowing or other work is happening.

“Part of our responsibility in delivering safe, reliable electricity to our customers is caring for the land we manage throughout our service territory, and that includes preserving resilient ecosystems like the wildlife habitats within our rights-of-way,” said Eversource Manager of Licensing and Permitting Matthew Waldrip. “This annual conservation program is another example of those efforts, and by training our crews how to search for and carefully relocate turtles before any heavy equipment is moved into their habitats, we can continue to support the protected species that live near our power lines while balancing the need for reliable electric service.”

Dozens of Eversource employees and contractors were joined by experts from the Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife to learn how to track protected species like the Eastern Box turtles that inhabit the low-lying areas beneath the company’s electric transmission lines. Seventeen turtles were located in the right-of-way over the course of the morning.

“The vegetation management carried out on utility rights-of-way can actually create and maintain important habitat for many of the Commonwealth’s rare species, such as the Eastern box turtle,” said Assistant Director of MassWildlife’s Natural Heritage and Endangered Species Program Jesse Leddick. “Eversource’s annual training provides a valuable opportunity to ensure that crews know how to identify suitable turtle habitat, search for these animals, and safely relocate them when needed. We’re proud to partner with Eversource on efforts like this that balance energy infrastructure needs with proactive wildlife conservation.” 

Learn more about the energy company’s commitment to environmental stewardship and wildlife protection. Customers can also learn more about the many reptiles and amphibians that call Eversource’s power line corridors home by exploring the company’s new Herptiles Guide, which is free to download.

Eversource (NYSE: ES), celebrated as a national leader for its corporate citizenship, is recognized as the #1 U.S. utility on TIME’s List of World’s Best Companies for 2024. Eversource transmits and delivers electricity and natural gas and supplies water to 2.3 million customers throughout Massachusetts, including approximately 1.58 million electric customers in 159 communities, 647,000 gas customers in 125 communities, and 11,500 water customers in five communities. Eversource harnesses the commitment of more than 10,000 employees across three states to build a single, united company around the mission of safely delivering reliable energy and water with superior customer service. The #1 energy efficiency provider in the nation, the company is empowering a clean energy future in the Northeast, with nationally recognized energy efficiency solutions and successful programs to integrate new clean energy resources like a first-in-the-nation networked geothermal pilot project, solar, offshore wind, electric vehicles and battery storage, into the electric system. For more information, please visit eversource.com, and follow us on X, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. For more information on our water services, visit aquarionwater.com.

CONTACT:
Sarah Paduano
860-665-4606
sarah.paduano@eversource.com