Enel North America Commits $65,000 Toward COVID-19 Relief Efforts in Central Illinois
First Responders in Latham and Mount Pulaski will receive $50,000
Pledges $5,000 to Lincoln Logan Food Pantry

 

[April 16, 2020] 

Enel North America, which has four wind farms in operation or development in central Illinois, announced this week that it will provide $65,000 to four organizations in the area to support COVID-19 preparedness and response. The support is a part of a $1.3 million community-based relief effort the company is initiating with over 75 local agencies across the US and Canada in response to the pandemic.

“At Enel North America we have always felt a deep responsibility to support the health and well-being of the communities where we live and work, and even more so during this crisis,” said Enrico Viale, Head of Enel North America. “COVID-19 has caused unprecedented economic challenges for critical service organizations in many communities and we hope our support can provide some sense of relief. From rural hospitals to first responders, local schools and foodbanks, these organizations and their workers are on the frontlines and we thank essential workers everywhere for their extraordinary and unwavering response to this crisis.”

Enel North America is committed to a multi-phase, community-based response to address both immediate health and social services needs, plus long-term socioeconomic impacts from this crisis.

In central Illinois, the company’s commitment to its host communities includes $10,000 to The Vault in Clinton for local educational programs, $5,000 to the Logan County Food Pantry and $50,000 to first responders in Latham and Mt. Pulaski.

"We are beyond grateful for the generous support that Enel North America and Tradewind Energy have given to support the teens of our community through their financial gift to The Vault,” said Michelle Witzke, founder and program director of The Vault in Clinton, which will receive $10,000 for a partnership with the Clinton Education Association and Clinton Community Educational Foundation. “All students in our district have been academically compromised and impacted in some way by COVID-19. As much as the teachers are doing their best under these circumstances, learning does not have the same value as face-to-face, hands-on education. This gift will allow The Vault, CEA, and CCEF to team up to provide supplemental learning materials for the summer that can help bridge the learning gap, especially for families most severely impacted by this pandemic.”

In addition to supporting these local organizations, as an essential power generator, Enel North America has implemented enhanced safety measures and restructured its workforce plan to maintain physical distancing and teams separation across its portfolio of more than 80 renewable energy power plants.

This restructuring will help to ensure a continued, reliable electricity supply to homes, businesses and critical services in the communities where it operates. Enel North America also plans to support the economy by moving forward with its 2020 hiring plan.

In Illinois, Enel operates two plants through its renewables arm Enel Green Power: the 185 MW HillTopper wind farm and the 66 MW Whitney Hill wind farm. Through its Tradewind Energy subsidiary, the company is also developing the Alta Farms wind project in DeWitt County and the Rolling Farms wind project in Christian County.

About Enel in North America

Enel is a multinational power company and a leading integrated player in the global power, gas and renewables markets. It is the largest European utility by market capitalisation and ordinary EBITDA, and is present in over 30 countries worldwide, producing energy with over 88 GW of managed capacity. Enel distributes electricity through a network of over 2.2 million kilometres, and with over 73 million business and household end users globally, the Group has the largest customer base among its European peers. Enel’s renewables arm Enel Green Power is the world’s largest renewable private player, managing around 46 GW of wind, solar, geothermal and hydropower plants in Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and Oceania.

Enel operates in the US and Canada through two companies: Enel Green Power North America and Enel X North America. Enel Green Power North America is a leading owner and operator of renewable energy plants with a presence in 18 US states and one Canadian province. The company operates around 80 plants with a managed capacity of approximately 5.8 GW powered by wind, hydropower, geothermal and solar energy. Enel X North America has around 3,400 business customers, over 20 operational behind-the-meter storage projects and approximately 4.6 GW of demand response capacity spanning more than 10,400 sites. Enel X is revolutionizing the EV charging market with its smart charging solutions deploying around 60,000 charging stations in the US.

[Matt Epting
Media and Public Relations Senior Specialist
Communications – USA & Canada]