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2017 | Doing Business in Connecticut 91 Connecting with Our Customers and Communities E versource is New England's energy leader, providing reliable service to 3.7 million electric and natural gas customers in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Taking Care of Customers, Today and in the Future Every day, with every interaction, our nearly 8,000 employees commit themselves to customer service. We make it easy to do business with us, whether on the phones, in our offices, or out in the field. And we work to provide multiple ways to communicate with us, including our website, toll-free phone lines, email, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We are at the ready to answer your questions, and, to help you learn more about saving energy and money, we offer interactive online tools and webinars on a variety of topics. We also offer expert service and solutions for our business and com- mercial customers. Account Executive teams work with their colleagues in our Business Contact Centers to provide customized service on important topics like power quality, rates and competitive energy suppliers. Serving Our Communities Eversource plays a vital role in the health and economic well-being of the communities we serve. Through the Eversource Foundation and other corporate contributions, we partner with local and regional organizations, including providing more than $3 million in grants to nonprofit organizations and important regional activities in 2016. Our focus is on supporting the health and well-being of the customers in our service area, with an emphasis on youth. To strengthen Connecticut's local economies, Eversource invests more than $1.2 million in local Chambers of Commerce, civic and economic develop- ment organizations to support small businesses with the resources they need to thrive. In 2016, Eversource was again proud to serve as the title sponsor for the Eversource Hartford Marathon. Its more than 65,000 participants and spec- tators generate more than $13 million in economic development opportuni- ties for the state of Connecticut. We also partner with the Travelers Cham- pionship on the Eversource PGA TOUR Player Experience for Junior Golfers, and we have proudly hosted the Special Olympics Connecticut Winter Games at our location in Windsor, CT. At these and many other events in 2016, employ- ees volunteered nearly 6,000 hours of participation in Connecticut. Clean Energy Leadership In the clean energy arena, Ever- source is working to be the catalyst for change and opportunity in New England. We're hard at work in 2017, trimming trees for a more resilient electric system, strengthening our natural gas delivery system, and work- ing to bring clean hydropower to New England to lower energy supply costs. Our goal is to bring pricing stability to the region for the benefit of our customers. As a regional leader in the energy marketplace, we are acutely aware of our responsibility to the communities we serve. We recognize and embrace our obligation to develop innovative and meaningful solutions to the en- ergy challenges that face our region. Natural gas remains the fuel of choice in Connecticut. We significantly SPONSORED PROFILE ' Eversource helped us identify projects that didn't have a big upfront expense but delivered an immediate payback. ' — m i d- s i z e d b u s i n e s s o w n e r