Our Community Partnership Initiative (Partnership) seeks to leverage the local knowledge, trusted relationships, and experience of local community groups, nonprofit organizations, and municipalities who are committed to raise awareness and measurable participation in Home Energy Solutions – Income Eligible, Small Business Energy Advantage, income eligible customer heat pump adoption, and Multifamily Initiative, and demand response (UI territory only) within their own communities.

Together, the Connecticut electric and natural gas utilities (Eversource, United Illuminating, Southern Connecticut Gas and Connecticut Natural Gas, subsidiaries of AVANGRID, Inc), as Sponsors of Energize Connecticut, are committed to work with community outreach groups affiliated with a municipality, such as Energy Task Forces, and community outreach groups unaffiliated with a municipality. Our goal in working together is to familiarize residents and businesses with the Sponsors’ energy efficiency programs and offers to increase energy efficiency engagement and program participation across the state.

Through the Partnership, we seek to emphasize outreach to the following select groups: customers within a distressed municipality or Environmental Justice Census Block Groups, residents with limited English proficiency, customers who qualify for Home Energy Solutions - Income Eligible, renters in single family homes or multifamily buildings up to 4 units, property owners of multifamily 5+ properties, and small businesses. The Partnership does not replace current and future residential and small business marketing in Connecticut by the Sponsors, but rather aims to provide another layer of marketing and outreach to customers in the select groups mentioned above.

For our currently underway Partnership campaigns, applicants were asked to select between a short-term campaign (three to six months) or a long-term campaign (eight to twelve months) to direct during Round 2 of the Partnership. Applicants met with staff from the Companies to discuss their application and create campaign goals that consider the length of their campaign, resources, and available past participation data. Funding awards for both short-term and long-term campaigns ranged between $5,000 and $50,000 depending on the scope of the campaign plan proposal.

Round 2 applications closed Friday, March 17, 2023. 

Questions? Interested in learning more about the Partnership? Please reach out to Devan Willemsen or Alysse Rodrigues.