Citizens Conservation Corporation was created in 1981 to augment Citizens Energy’s fuel assistance programs. Recognizing that the least expensive form of energy is the energy saved through conservation and efficiency, Citizens Energy saw that its subsidized home heating oil often was wasted in poorly weatherized apartments with inefficient heating systems. By providing design, engineering, and construction management services, Citizens Conservation reduced energy waste in tens of thousands of housing units and made rental housing more livable and affordable.

Federal and state-funded weatherization programs existed at the time to provide conservation services to the poor, but Citizens Energy tried another approach. By appealing to the business concerns of building owners, Citizens sought to provide conservation and efficiency savings based on the performance of the improvements, rather than as a giveaway. Citizens Conservations’ strategy – to invest against projected savings – led to the company helping to reduce energy demand in thousands of housing units throughout the country.

Unlike most other energy service companies, which focused on retrofitting single-family homes or commercial and industrial facilities, Citizens Conservation concentrated on the most challenging segment of the energy conservation market – multi-family rental housing for low- and moderate-income residents. Citizens Conservation worked with building owners, real estate management companies, and utilities to provide a maximum level of investment to improve the building’s energy efficiency, generating long-term energy and building maintenance cost savings.

Citizens Conservation conducted rigorous building-specific energy audits and then created state-of-the-art engineering designs and financing arrangements to implement the recommended building improvements. Citizens Conservation also managed the construction process and provided educational programs for building managers and residents. In this manner, Citizens documented average energy savings for heating and hot water that reached 40 percent, with some energy reductions as high as 75 percent. Tens of thousands of apartments received Citizens Conservation retrofits, reducing energy demand and delivering millions of dollars in energy savings to taxpayers and residents.

In 1983, Citizens Energy formed a related company, Citizens Heat and Power Company, to provide similar energy conservation and efficiency services at major industrial and commercial properties. That company built a client portfolio of 170 separate buildings in four states, including hospitals, nursing homes, school departments, and municipal, county, and state government office buildings.

Citizens Heat and Power was sold to a major utility in 1986, while Citizens Conservation Corporation was sold in 1995 to Eastern Utility Corporation.



Citizens Energy offers energy efficiency project development and management services to municipal utilities, public facilities, and private companies. Citizens identifies energy efficiency projects and manages their development, construction, and finance.



Businesses that are interested in partnering with Citizens Energy on energy conservation and efficiency-related projects are encouraged to reach us at 617-338-6300.