2005 US Community Giving

2005 U.S. Community Giving

natiioonalgr d Contents

President’s Message 2

Introduction 3

United Way 4

Share the Warmth 5

Health and Social Services 6

Education 7

Environmental 11

Matching Gifts 13

Citizenship Grants 14

Chairman’s Awards 15

Cultural 16

1 Community Report 2005 Message from the President and CEO

I am pleased to present to you our first Community Giving Report. It’s fitting to be sharing our story with you at this time, as we come together as one company with one name – National Grid. The companies we own and operate here in the Northeast have long and proud heritages. Their past names – Niagara Mohawk, Massachusetts Electric, Narragansett Electric, Granite State Electric and Nantucket Electric – have been synonymous with integrity, value, service and reliability. We will continue that proud tradition as we go forward under our single name – National Grid. As National Grid, we will also continue the long-standing tradition of investment in the community, through both the activities of our employees and our financial contributions. We are literally connected to nearly 4 million electricity and natural gas customers in some 900 communities across our service territory. We recognize the value and importance of the positive role we can play in our communities. Our corporate giving program is diverse. Just as our customers and communities are different, so are their needs. I would like to share with you, in the next several pages, examples of our employees’ volunteer activities and our charitable donations. Our goal is simple: to improve and enrich the lives of a wide range of people in the communities where we live and work.

Sincerely,

Mike Jesanis President and CEO

Community Report 2005 2 Introduction

◆ 1.5 million electricity customers National Grid is one of the top 10 energy delivery companies in the U.S., serving almost 4 million electricity in 669 New York communities and natural gas customers in nearly 900 communities in the Northeast. We are focused on delivering energy safely, reliably and efficiently. In all our business activities, we are guided by our Framework for ◆ 1.2 million electricity customers Responsible Business. in 168 Massachusetts The Framework sets out the principles by which we not only conduct our business, but also how we treat communities the environment, our employees and the communities in which we operate. We encourage and support investment in the community through both the activities of our employees and our financial contributions, ◆ 465,000 electricity customers with an emphasis on developing partnerships. in 38 Rhode Island communities To that end, National Grid gives generously with time, talent and financial support to hundreds of non- profit organizations throughout our service territory. We give preference to organizations that provide support for health and social services, environmental protection, education, cultural institutions and ◆ 38,000 electricity customers civic and economic development. in 21 New Hampshire communities For the complete Framework for Responsible Business document visit www.nationalgrid.com/responsibility. The statistics and references in the following pages refer to our Fiscal Year 2005 (April 1, 2004 - March 31, 2005). ◆ 10,000 year-round electricity customers on the island National Grid Service Territory in the United States community of Nantucket

Canada ◆ 550,000 natural gas customers in 197 communities in central and eastern New York

Vermont ◆ National Grid owns and operates Watertown Lake approximately 14,000 miles of Ontario New electricity transmission and sub- Hampshire transmission (23kV and up) Syracuse Utica Salem lines in New England and Buffalo Atlantic Albany Ocean New York Lake Erie Massachusetts New York Worcester

Providence National Grid Service Territory Connecticut Rhode in the United States Island

Nantucket

Each year, National Grid employees raise more than $800,000 for local United Way agencies in New York and New England. Money raised by employees and retirees is company matched, bringing last year’s total donation to $1.6 million contributed to United Way organizations in New York, New Hampshire, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. This significant annual contribution has established National Grid as one of the top givers in several of the United Way organizations. Throughout its four-state service territory, National Grid has received numerous awards and recognition by various United Way agencies. In addition to financial support, our employees are actively involved with several United Way organizations serving on boards and acting as loaned executives. Many more volunteer to help with local projects, including the United Way's annual Day of Caring, when volunteers provide the manpower necessary to help local organizations with facility repairs, painting, maintaining and building playgrounds, weeding community gardens, picking up trash and other clean up activities.

Shown here are teams of employees participating in United Way’s annual Day of Caring.

Community Report 2005 4 Share the Warmth – Energy Fuel Assistance Programs

Energy Fund Facts In addition to United Way giving, National Grid is sensitive to the needs of households who, because of temporary financial difficulty, cannot meet a ◆ Since 1985, the Massa- month’s energy expense. The cold, harsh winters of the Northeast present chusetts fund has raised challenges to many. National Grid is a major sponsor of energy fuel assis- more than $12 million and tance programs that help individuals or families having extreme difficulty assisted nearly 60,000 making their heat or electricity bill payments. To be eligible for this assistance, households must meet certain criteria. families In Massachusetts and Rhode Island, the program is called The Good ◆ Since 1986, the fund in Neighbor Energy Fund (GNEF), and it’s administered by the Salvation Army. Rhode Island has raised The GNEF is a cooperative effort among Massachusetts and Rhode Island more than $4 million and utilities. In 2004, the fund helped more than 4,000 families pay an electric, assisted more than 23,000 gas or oil bill. families In New York, a similar program called the Care & Share Energy Fund is sponsored by National Grid and is administered by the Red Cross. Last year, the Care & Share Energy ◆ Since 1984, New York’s Fund provided nearly $160,000 to more than 550 families for fuel and energy costs. Care & Share has raised We encourage our employees and customers to contribute to the respective funds in their state, and then more than $7 million and we match these donations up to a specified maximum. To encourage the general public to contribute to assisted nearly 28,000 this charitable fund, we often pay for promotional advertising, as well as insert donation envelopes with families the electric and gas bills.

CHUSE SA T S T S A

5 Community Report 2005 Health and Social Services

Ensuring the health, safety and well being of our families, friends and neighbors strengthens our communities. In fiscal year 2005, we By participating with and donating funds to health and social service organizations, National Grid aims to contributed more than $1.8 share the responsibility of caring for our communities. million to health and social National Grid and its employees, for example, raised service organizations. National $14,000 during the AIDS Walk Boston. The company’s Grid employees actively partici- fundraising efforts were among the top 10 largest. pated in local events to raise Proceeds from the annual AIDS Walk go to the AIDS funds for these causes. Action Committee to help provide services aimed at Examples include: education, advocacy and prevention of the disease. National Grid employees are also actively involved with AIDS walks the central New York chapter of the Juvenile Diabetes American Diabetes Tour DeCure Research Foundation (JDRF). Each year, a team of American Heart Walk employees raises money to help fund research to find a cure for Juvenile Diabetes by hold- American Cancer Society's ing 50/50 raffles and soliciting spon- Relay for Life sors and donations for the Diabetes Boston Marathon Walk. Together with the company’s Jimmy Fund Walk donation, National Grid’s team has Blow the Whistle on Asthma often ranked as the top giver for the Walk (American Lung annual JDRF walk. Association) Champions Fighting Cancer Walk Great Strides Walk (Cystic Fibrosis Foundation) Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Walk to Cure Diabetes Light the Night (Leukemia and Lymphoma Society) Walk America (March of Dimes)

Community Report 2005 6 Education – An Investment In Our Future

“What a great service. All the infor- National Grid considers education an important investment in our society’s future and has long been a strong mation I have requested over the supporter of educational organizations. We support hundreds of educational institutions financially and through years falls right into my technology varied partnerships and outreach efforts. education curriculum of power and energy. I have used videos, Educational Services Program posters and booklets. They are all In addition to financial contributions, we have a 20-year history of providing our own comprehensive Educational subject and age appropriate.” Services program to teachers and students in grades K-8 in the company’s service territory. Resource materials – –Robert Braid, including student literature, videos and posters that focus on energy with an emphasis on electricity and gas safety, Belmonte Saugus Middle School, energy conservation and the environment – are made available free to teachers. Classroom electricity safety Saugus, Mass. programs are also offered to grades one, three and four in the New England communities – all at no cost to the schools. Each year more than 200,000 student booklets, videos and posters are requested and delivered to teachers in "We have used your materials in the communities served by National Grid. In Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, more than past years and have enjoyed the 2,500 individual classroom safety programs are presented each year, reaching 50,000-60,000 students annually. material very much. Thank you for providing us with such useful information in a fun way for young minds to learn." -Donna Isch, Nativity of Our Lord School, Orchard Park, N.Y.

“Outstanding presentation. Fast paced, age appropriate, great visual aids and hands on activities.” –Mrs. Stanvick, Abbot School, Westford, Mass.

7 Community Report 2005 Regional Vocational Technical Schools “The children and I loved all Safety is our number one priority, both for our employees and our customers. By reaching the materials and will order students who will most likely be exposed to the dangers of electricity, whether as electricians, them again.” builders, roofers, cable installers or painters, we’re hoping to make them –Nancy Sullivan, aware of the dangers of electricity and keep them safe. To promote and St. Joseph of Clancy School, encourage safety awareness, National Grid mailed an electricity safety video Newport, R.I. and literature to nearly 500 vocational-technical and training schools during the 2004-05 school year. A recent partnership with the Massachusetts and Rhode Island vocational- “You provide an important technical schools was developed to encourage energy-efficient construction service for ecology/science among students who graduate with degrees in building trades. Working education.” jointly with the schools, other utilities and the company’s technical outreach –Nancy Gallagher, vendor, Conservation Services Group, National Grid helped deliver a Lincoln Central School, curriculum to assist the teachers in their classroom and on the job site. Lincoln, R.I. To date the program has supported 20 vocational schools, 209 educators and 1,753 students who built 17 homes (many for low-income families), with another nine homes in process. The school outreach program has driven another 192 projects to build to Energy Star standards. What better way to instill good safety and energy conservation practices than to teach, inspire and encourage the next generation of building specialists?

Community Report 2005 8 Engineering College Sponsorships National Grid maintains a well-developed relationship with several key universities in our service area and supports activities ranging from basic research to internships to student design programs. Universities also serve as a resource for National Grid staff who seek access to the expertise of educators for problem-solving, as well as We’ve established well-developed to emerging research that could have a future impact on the relationships with the engineering energy delivery business. programs at the following: Mark Karwan (right), dean of the University at Buffalo's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, recognized National Grid with the Vital Partners Award. Clarkson University Accepting the award is Dennis Elsenbeck (left), vice president of Business Services, Western Division. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Syracuse University Junior Achievement For more than 30 years, National Grid employees, both in New York and New England, have been actively involved Union College with local Junior Achievement (JA) programs. Each year numerous employees volunteer to present JA classroom les- sons to hundreds of students. Employees are also very involved with JA’s Company or Entrepreneur Program, where a University at Buffalo team of employee volunteers guides students in forming their own companies. Students manufacture and sell a product and perform all normal business record University of Massachusetts keeping, including selling stock. at Lowell In addition to financial support and mentors in the classroom, our employees serve on JA boards and participate in University of Rhode Island fundraising events. National Grid and our individual employees have been recognized often with awards for dedication to, participation in and support of JA programs. Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Junior Achievement students hold up their checks to show off how much money they Pete Lebro, vice president, Network raised. Behind the camera is Joe Hipius, a National Grid employee in his 27th year as Operations, presents an award to a a Junior Achievement volunteer. young student. Lebro is a member of the Board for Junior Achievement of Central New York. 9 Community Report 2005 National Grid Scholarship Program The Samuel Huntington Public Service Award was created in 1988 in memory of the late president and chief executive officer of the former New England Electric System – now National Grid. Huntington was an advo- cate of public service, having spent a year in Nigeria teaching science and mathematics before pursuing his career. The Samuel Huntington Award The award, funded by colleagues, family and friends at National Grid, offers grants of $10,000 each to two has enabled more than 30 graduating college seniors on the basis of their academic records, personal accomplishments and proposal college graduates to contribute for a public service project anywhere in the world. to local and international In 2005, Onyi Offor, one of the Award recipients, will study breast cancer among Nigerian women, and Jessica Schiffman, the other Award recipient, will establish a communities through public music therapy foundation to assist the elderly. service projects. Examples of past recipients’ projects: ◆ Created computer labs in public high schools throughout the Ukraine ◆ Assisted underprivileged students in California with college and scholarship searches and applications ◆ Worked with at-risk teens to get them involved in their community through mural artwork ◆ Developed a literacy project in Ecuador ◆ Worked with refugees in Cambodian/ Thailand camps ◆ Worked with street children in East Africa to give them useful life skills ◆ Built a student center in Tanzania ◆ Planned and built a cooperative and literacy center in Costa Rica to help villagers manage their economic livelihood ◆ Created a program for Afghan war widow refugees to give them skills necessary to (left to right) Jennifer Huntington, chairman of the Samuel improve their socio-economic status Huntington Fund, presents the Public Service Awards to ◆ Established an AIDS education program for Onyi Offor, a Harvard University graduate, and Jessica four all-male schools in Nigeria Schiffman, a Cornell University graduate. ◆ Collected equipment for the Cuban elderly Community Report 2005 10 Environmental

At National Grid our commitment to the environment is more than just a priority; it is the way we do business. We are committed to the protection and enhancement of the environment for future generations and helping to educate our youth and customers about the need to protect the environment and conserve energy. Each year National Grid and our employees sponsor and participate in Earth Day cleanup activities, as well as Arbor Day and tree planting donations to schools, municipal offices, parks and other community facilities. We support educational programs and a variety of partnerships with various environmental non-profit organizations.

For example, we’ve partnered with the Mass Audubon Society to create a wildlife sanctuary and provide educational kiosks at Broad Meadow Brook Conservation Center in Worcester, Mass. National Grid has played an important role in helping restore the osprey population in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. By providing and installing poles in appropriate areas suitable for nesting sites, the company has helped with efforts to lure back, protect and increase the breeding of ospreys, a large hawk-like bird whose species had dwindled or left the area due to development and lack of suitable nesting habitats.

11 Community Report 2005 National Grid believes education is key, and as such, Below are some of the environ- has been a longtime supporter of the New York, mental organizations National Massachusetts and Rhode Island Envirothons. The Grid donated to this past year. Envirothon is an environmental education program for high school students to help them gain a better Adirondack Mountain Club understanding of natural resource issues and cultivate Audubon Society their desire to learn more about local, state, national and Massachusetts global environments. In addition to financial support, National Grid employees, including arborists, foresters Audubon Society New York and environmental engineers, volunteer their time helping to organize and judge state competitions. Audubon Society New Hampshire In Syracuse, New York, National Grid donated $10,000 to the Rosamond Gifford Zoo to purchase the van used to transport the “Zoo to You” program. Zoo to You is a traveling educational program, presented by Brockton Garden Club professional zoo educators, that visits schools, libraries, day care, community and senior centers. Each Capen Hill Nature Sanctuary program includes live animals to create a hands-on Coastal America Foundation experience for the participants. Nantucket Conservation The Ecotarium in Worcester, Mass. is another example Foundation of National Grid’s long-term support of environmental education. Since 1979 National Grid has sponsored sev- Nashua River Watershed Association eral exhibits and festivities at the Ecotarium, including this past year’s Hunters of the Parks & Trails, New York Sky Festival celebrating Pfeiffer Nature Center birds of prey. Save the Bay Sudbury Valley Trustees Tour des Trees Upper Valley Land Trust Zoological Society of Buffalo

Community Report 2005 12 Matching Gifts

National Grid matched National Grid’s Matching Gifts Program maximizes employees’ voluntary donations to eligible non-profit organiza- employee giving to 565 tions. Through the program, qualified gifts are matched dollar for dollar by the company, up to a maximum of different organizations. $3,500 per employee, per year. Some examples: Our employees support organizations of varying interests, ranging from Harvard University and the Make a Wish Foundation to the Pan-Massachusetts Challenge and the American Heart Association, to name just a few. Last Catholic Charities year National Grid matched more than $400,000 of employee donations to 565 different organizations. Clark University Matching Gifts – The Tsunami Relief Fund Cystic Fibrosis Foundation Above and beyond the normal matching gifts program available to employees, National Grid and its employees felt Dana-Farber Cancer Institute compelled to donate in response to a separate, devastating event – the tsunami that hit southern Asia. Leukemia & Lymphoma Our employees immediately and Society of America generously responded with personal donations. The outpouring National Multiple of financial support by employees Sclerosis Society prompted National Grid to announce that not only would it Potsdam College Foundation match employee donations, it would double them. For every Reptile Adoption Rehabilitation dollar an employee donated, the company donated two dollars. Ronald McDonald After a month-long campaign, U.S. employees contributed House Charities nearly $85,000. With the company’s double match, a check for more than $250,000 was presented to the American Red Saint Anselm College Cross Disaster Relief effort on behalf of National Grid’s U.S. Susan G. Komen Foundation employees. This amount, combined with the contributions of our international employee base, resulted in $1.2 million in total Utica Fund Michael Jesanis, president and CEO of National Grid donations from National Grid for the tsunami relief effort. WGBH Educational in the U.S. (center), presents a check to Lisa Piehler, While the process of recovery will be a very slow one for the Foundation Executive Director, American Red Cross Central Mass tsunami victims, National Grid employees demonstrated yet and Michael Tsotsis, Chairman of the Board, again that they are caring and compassionate people who Red Cross Central Mass. give generously to those in need.

13 Community Report 2005 Citizenship Grants

Citizenship Grants Citizenship Grants span a National Grid established the Citizenship Grants Program to recognize our employees who are actively involved variety of services and organi- with non-profit organizations within their communities; employees apply for grants to supplement their zations. In addition to several volunteer activities. A committee reviews and selects employee applications that meet specific criteria and local scouting and athletic then makes a financial donation to those organizations in the name of the employee volunteer. The maximum organizations, the following is grant is $2,000. a partial list of other recipients: Employees Sharon DeMarco, Jill Fitzpatrick, Pat Bogan and Cheryl Hoople are recent recipients of the company’s Citizenship Grants. Their stories are but a American Wildlife few examples of the types of volunteer activities that employees perform in the Conservation Foundation communities where they live and work. Big Sisters of Rhode Island DeMarco, a New Hampshire resident, received a $2,000 grant for her volunteer Evans Mills Volunteer efforts with the Childhood Cancer Lifeline of New Hampshire. The group is dedicated Ambulance Squad to addressing the practical and emotional needs of New Hampshire families dealing with pediatric cancer. DeMarco’s grant helps meet families’ financial needs during Indian Lake Watershed their times of crisis. Association Fitzpatrick, an employee working in the North Andover, Mass., office, received a New England Center for $1,000 grant for the National Alliance for Autism Research (NAAR) and Children formed a team for the Walk F.A.R. for NAAR. Since its inception in May Robert Gardner Memorial 2000, approximately 171,000 people have participated in Walk F.A.R. Foundation for NAAR and have raised more than $18.3 million for autism research. Sterling Firefighters Fitzpatrick’s grant helps fund this critically needed research. Association Bogan and Hoople, of the Buffalo, N.Y. office, received a $1,500 The Consortium for Children’s grant to support the New York State Wildlife Rehabilitation Council’s Services Inc. (NYSWRC) Annual Wildlife Rehabilitation Seminar. In existence for 20 years, NYSWRC’s goal is to promote professionalism in the field of UMass Memorial Foundation wildlife rehabilitation and to provide wildlife rehabilitators Ecuador Fund with educational and technical support. The Citizenship W.H. Stevenson Elementary Grant was used to fund an Emergency Response for Oil School Playground Committee Spills Specialty Workshop which included lectures and hands-on training, including medical and washing labs. YMCA of Worcester

Community Report 2005 14 Chairman’s Awards

Chairman’s Awards In 2004, National Grid established the Chairman’s Awards for Safety, Health and Environmental Achievement to encourage innovation and continuous improvement in these areas. All employees are eligible for nomination. The employee, through exceptional effort or an innovative idea, must clearly demonstrate a contribution to safety, health or environmental improvements for employees or the general public. A winner of each category is selected, as well as an overall winner. Winning teams or individuals are presented with a check of approximately $18,000 to donate to a charity of their choice. The overall winner receives an additional $9,000 to donate to charity. This past year’s Environmental Award went to the New York E-36 pipeline project team led by Tom Picciott. The team helped construct a natural gas pipeline through an environmentally sensitive area in northeastern New York and successfully protected the environment while cross- ing 36 wetlands, 15 streams and a ravine with a 150 foot vertical drop. The team donated more than $25,000 to Down Syndrome Aim High, Albany, N.Y. and the Down Syndrome Association of Central New York. The Safety Award winner, Mark Dombrowski, led a team that developed a manhole rescue system. Nearly $18,000 was donated to the Why Me & Sherry’s House in Worcester, Mass. The donation was used to purchase furniture and beds for a new house that will host the families of children undergoing chemotherapy. Why Me & Sherry’s House has provided hundreds of central New England children and families with the emotional and financial support they need to fight cancer. The Health Award went to Dawn Travalini, an employee who actively evaluated public drinking water supplies throughout the Worcester and Leominster, Mass., areas to identify potential at-risk situations if oil-filled distribution equipment located near public water supplies spilled. The award money was donated to the City of Worcester Parks and Recreation Department and was earmarked to improve Worcester’s Elm Park. Elm Park is recognized as one of the first purchases of land (1854) for a public park in the U.S. and is on the National Register of Historic Places. National Grid employees have a proud legacy of contributing their time, talents and money to help improve and enrich the lives of families, friends and neighbors – and we are proud to support their efforts.

15 Community Report 2005 Cultural

Cultural events provide an opportunity to listen to some of the greatest music ever written, view artist render- National Grid supports ings of scenes and people from places both far and near, and enjoy the squeals of delight as children see a wide range of organizations new animals or historic artifacts for the first time. We believe these cultural organizations help build and including: preserve the fabric of our society. National Grid contributed to a wide range of cultural organizations this Adirondack Theater Festival past year. In Massachusetts, National Grid has been a long-time supporter (Glens Falls, N.Y.) of the Worcester Art Museum, sponsoring both free African Cultural Center of admission on Saturday mornings and various exhibits. Buffalo (New York) Old Sturbridge Village, a living museum, and the Norman Rockwell Museum in Stockbridge are but a sampling of Easton Children’s Museum the cultural organizations that National Grid supports and (North Easton, Mass.) promotes. Everson Museum of Art In Rhode Island, National Grid is a strong supporter of the (Syracuse, N.Y.) Providence Performing Arts Center and the Rhode Island Philharmonic, among others. Fuller Craft Museum (Brockton, Mass.) In New York, we are proud to sponsor the Musuem of Science and Technology, the Syracuse Symphony, the Adirondack Theater Festival and the African Cultural Center of Buffalo, to name but a few. Pawtucket Arts Festival (Rhode Island) The photo at left shows National Grid making a donation to the Iroquois Indian Museum at Howes Cave, New York, to support festivities at The Strawberry Moon Festival of Iroquois Arts. “Since Massachusetts Electric first began supporting this program 10 years ago, the museum has welcomed more than 160,000 visitors free-of- charge during the Free Saturday Mornings program,” said Anne Bill Flaherty (right) vice president of Sadick, corporate, foundation and Business Services, Northeast Division government grants coordinator for and Mike Tarbell, museum educator the museum. “The Worcester Art Museum is grateful and honored to have your sponsorship of this valuable program.”

Community Report 2005 16 Thank you to those who have contributed to and supported our community. If you’d like to learn more about our community involvement, please visit us at www.nationalgridus.com/ community. n www.nationalgrid.com Westborough, MA 01582 25 Research Drive a t i io o n a l rd gr

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