Entire Community Mobilizes to help Central Falls Become An “Energy Champion”

North Providence Steps Up to take National Grid’s RI Energy Challenge! 

​PROVIDENCE, RI – National Grid today named the city of Central Falls a “Rhode Island Energy Champion” after students and city officials there successfully mobilized over 5% of the city’s households, or a total of 394 homes to register for the Challenge and change their energy use behaviors. 

 Throughout the next several months, City Hall translated program materials into Spanish, asked municipal employees to email all fellow city workers and engaged the school department in reaching out to the students. Other civic organizations such as the Prevention Coalition and Progresso Latino communicated with the business community and their membership. Truly, all facets of the city were engaged in making their community a more energy conscious place to live. image2image3image4image1Most

impressively, middle and high school students were credited with spreading the message of energy efficiency in classrooms and serving as volunteers at events to help reach hundreds of families. “The future of Central Falls is incredibly bright,” said Brian F. Keane, President of SmartPower. “And this is true not simply because Central Falls has become a Rhode Island Energy Champion. It’s true because it’s the students themselves — indeed, the next generation of leaders of this community — who have teamed up with Mayor Diossa to make this designation a reality! Central Falls has now handed the Challenge to the Town of North Providence to ask its residents to find four ways to save energy. Mayor Charles A. Lombardi eagerly accepted and stated, “The message of sustainability and being more energy conscious is one that I strongly believe in. We will encourage all our residents to find four ways to be energy savers in the home and contribute to making Rhode Island a healthier place to live.” In an effort to help put money back in the pockets of those who could benefit most, Tri-Town Community Action Agency also announced their participation in the program at the March 31st event. “Tri-Town Community Action Agency is proud to support the efforts of Smart Power and National Grid to soften the impact of utility bills on our clients,” said Joseph R. DeSantis, Chief Executive Officer. “Every dollar saved by our clients ensures that they can improve their self-sufficiency and quality of life by using those savings to provide shelter, food, and clothing for themselves and their families. We also find that clients’ health improve as they save on their utility bills, since it allows them to keep their homes warmer during the winter months.” Throughout 2015 the Rhode Island Energy Challenge will continue to grow across the state, engaging municipalities, non-profits and businesses. Residents interested in participating in the Rhode Island Energy Challenge can sign up at www.FindYourFour.com About National Grid   National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE: NGG) is an electricity and natural gas delivery company that connects nearly 7 million customers to vital energy sources through its networks in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast. National Grid also operates the systems that deliver gas and electricity across Great Britain. Through its U.S. Connect21 strategy, National Grid is transforming its electricity and natural gas networks to support the 21st century digital economy with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions. Connect21 is vital to our communities’ long-term economic and environmental health and aligns with regulatory initiatives in New York (REV: Reforming the Energy Vision) and Massachusetts (Grid Modernization). For more information please visit our website: www.nationalgridus.com, or our Connecting website. You can also follow us on Twitter, watch us on You Tube, Friend us on Facebook and find our photos on Instagram.   About SmartPower   For organizations and companies looking to engage customers in energy efficiency and clean energy actions, SmartPower is the bridge linking directly to residents and businesses. SmartPower is a strategic program-design and implementation firm that was recently named the “best non-profit marketing firm in the US”. SmartPower’s exclusive focus on energy efficiency and clean energy results in high visibility, high impact on-the-ground community campaigns designed to transform how customers use, adopt and invest in clean energy and energy efficiency. Our campaigns consistently result in strong customer satisfaction. SmartPower is leading the Rhode Island Energy Challenge in partnership with National Grid. For more information, please visit www.smartpower.org