Press Releases
06/13/2024
Avangrid Wins the 2024 Plan Sponsor of the Year Award for its Retirement and Student Loan Repayment Plans
Avangrid Wins the 2024 Plan Sponsor of the Year Award for its Retirement and Student Loan Repayment Plans
Honor by PLANSPONSOR Recognizes Leading Companies Focused on Employees’ Financial Health
ORANGE, Conn. — June 13, 2024 — Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company and a member of the Iberdrola Group, announced today that it has won the 2024 Plan Sponsor of the Year award for the company’s leading retirement plan and groundbreaking Student Loan Debt Repayment program. This annual award is presented by PLANSPONSOR magazine, a publication focused on retirement programs, and recognizes retirement plan sponsors that show a commitment to their participants’ financial health and retirement success. Avangrid earned the top spot in the category of “Corporate Defined Contribution Plans $1 Billion and Greater.”
“An important part of being a leading sustainable energy company is investing in our workforce,” said Pedro Azagra, Avangrid CEO. “Earning this award reflects our dedication to a corporate ethos that values the long-term well-being of our employees. With our investments, we aim to foster an environment where innovation thrives, diversity is embraced, and every employee feels empowered to contribute to our shared vision of building a clean energy future.”
Avangrid’s compensation, health and retirement programs are designed to attract, retain and empower top talent. Last year, Avangrid became one of the first energy companies in the United States to launch a student loan debt repayment benefit. Avangrid’s program is available to non-union employees and offers participants a $250 monthly payment, up to a lifetime maximum of $9,000, paid directly to their eligible student loan provider(s). To date, more than 800 Avangrid employees have enrolled, and the program has saved employees more than $2.6 million in principal and estimated interest.
The company also provides a leading employer 401(k) match, providing 150% on up to 8% of non-union employee eligible compensation, and continues to add new features to improve its retirement offering and increase employee engagement. In recent years, this has included auto-enrollment in its 401(k) plan for new employees and an auto-escalation option for contributions to help employees maximize outcomes. This has helped lead to Avangrid reaching a 94% plan participation rate in 2023. Additionally, earlier this year, Avangrid was the first company in the country to implement BlackRock’s new retirement income solution, LifePath Paycheck, which provides plan participates with an option to purchase a lifetime income stream in retirement.
For Avangrid, these improvements are about providing inclusive benefits that support and empower all employees.
“Providing leading financial well-being benefits helps to secure our employees' future and demonstrate our unwavering commitment to their total health and success,” said Paul Visconti, senior director of total health and retirement programs at Avangrid. “This is more than a benefit; it's a statement that every employee's well-being and financial security are a top priority, creating an environment where all can succeed and feel valued and confident."
Photo credit: Matt Kalinowski
About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) aspires to be the leading sustainable energy company in the United States. Headquartered in Orange, CT with approximately $44 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states, Avangrid has two primary lines of business: networks and renewables. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Through its renewables business, Avangrid owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital in 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens. In 2024, Avangrid ranked first among utilities and 12 overall. The company supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2024 for the sixth consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
About Iberdrola: Iberdrola is one of the world's biggest energy companies and a leader in renewables, spearheading the energy transition to a low carbon economy. The group supplies energy to almost 100 million people in dozens of countries. With a focus on renewable energy, smart networks and smart solutions for customers, Iberdrola’s main markets include Europe (Spain, the United Kingdom, Portugal, France, Germany, Italy and Greece), the United States, Brazil, Mexico and Australia. The company is also present in growth markets such as Japan, Taiwan, Ireland, Sweden and Poland, among others.
With a workforce of nearly 40,000 and assets in excess of €141.7 billion, across the world, Iberdrola helps to support 400,000 jobs across its supply chain, with annual procurement of €12.2 billion. A benchmark in the fight against climate change, Iberdrola has invested more than €130 billion over the past two decades to help build a sustainable energy model, based on sound environmental, social and governance (ESG) principles.
