Vermont Green Line and Citizens Energy Announce Partnership

WALTHAM, MA--(Marketwired - August 25, 2016) - The Vermont Green Line today announced a new partnership with Citizens Energy Corporation to assist low-income Vermont residents with their energy needs.

By becoming an owner in the Vermont Green Line alongside National Grid, Citizens Energy will finance its share of the line and use its profits, in concert with the project partners, to help working families and others in need in Vermont.

Citizens Energy partners with utilities and experienced developers across the country to develop new high-voltage transmission lines. Under its unique model, Citizens Energy's projects -now including the Vermont Green Line-increase grid reliability, unlock access to large quantities of renewable energy, and fund charitable programs for people living in the area, all at no additional cost to ratepayers.

"We are thrilled about this collaboration with Citizens," said Ed Krapels, CEO of Anbaric, the lead developer of Vermont Green Line. "It builds on the significant benefits the Vermont Green Line will bring to the state, including economic development, community investment, and lower market energy prices."

The Vermont Green Line is being developed by Anbaric and National Grid, which joined forces in 2014 to develop transmission lines to bring cost-effective, renewable energy into New England. Their alliance is developing the Vermont Green Line, a proposed 60-mile, 400 megawatt HVDC transmission line linking wind and hydropower resources north and west of Beekmantown, New York, with New Haven, Vermont, via a cable to be buried along public roadways and submerged beneath the waters of Lake Champlain. With its global record of accomplishment in connection with such projects, the National Grid-Anbaric alliance offers unrivaled experience in the field of HVDC transmission development.

"Citizens Energy is excited to be a part of this effort to bring carbon-free, clean energy to the region - while continuing our corporate mission to use profits from successful ventures to assist those in need," said Citizens Energy Chairman and President Joseph P. Kennedy II. "This project shows how building green transmission lines can benefit ratepayers and the environment while helping the most vulnerable families in our midst. We look forward to working with National Grid, Anbaric, and our friends in Vermont to deliver affordable clean energy through the Vermont Green Line."

In California, Citizens has used profits from its ownership stake in the $1.9 billion SunrisePowerlink line to install photovoltaic solar systems on the rooftops of low-income families in the Imperial Valley, the poorest region of the state, at no cost to homeowners. The Solar Homes program has allowed households to cut their energy costs significantly and make air-conditioning more affordable in a region where summer temperatures soar over 110 degree and pose health risks to senior citizens, young children, and other vulnerable citizens.

Working with Vermonters, Citizens Energy will use its ownership in the Vermont Green Line to find similar ways to help low-income residents in the state cut their energy costs, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and take part in the clean energy revolution.

"We are grateful to Joe Kennedy and Citizens Energy for their partnership and innovative business model to use their profits to help those in need," said Dean Seavers, US President for National Grid. "In addition to transitioning the region to a clean energy future, we are proud to give back to the many host communities that have been collaborative throughout the project's progress."

About Anbaric

Anbaric, headquartered in Wakefield, Massachusetts, has a track record of leadership in developing competitively selected High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) transmission projects in New York. Anbaric's corporate mission is to develop innovative, large electric infrastructure projects. As a developer, Anbaric invests in projects that will have long life spans, the foremost being electric transmission assets. Anbaric is also developing a series of large microgrids, known too as distributed energy systems. For more information, please visit www.anbaric.com

About Citizens Energy Corporation

Citizens Energy Corporation, a Boston-based non-profit founded in 1979 by former Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, has a long history of using revenues from successful commercial energy ventures to finance charitable programs to help the poor. Starting in the oil and natural gas industries, Citizens also launched innovative businesses in the health care, electricity trading, and energy conservation fields. More recently, the company expanded into the solar, wind and transmission industries - in every case using profits from its ventures to help the poor wherever it operates.

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, Like us on Facebook and find our photos on Instagram.