ORANGE, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR), a leading sustainable energy company, has again been recognized by Ethisphere as one of the 2021 World’s Most Ethical Companies.
The announcement marks the third consecutive year that AVANGRID has earned the designation from Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices. AVANGRID is one of only nine honorees globally in the Energy and Utilities sector in 2021. A total of 135 honorees were recognized spanning 21 countries and 51 industries.
“Having a culture that is rooted in ethical behavior and conduct is fundamental to our aspiration of becoming the leading sustainable energy company in the U.S.,” said Dennis V. Arriola, CEO of AVANGRID. “This recognition is testament to the fact that we operate under the highest ethical standards with a purpose-driven culture of accountability. Receiving this honor from Ethisphere is a tribute to all of our employees at AVANGRID – they make a difference every day.”
Transparency and commitment to continuous improvement are cornerstones of AVANGRID’s corporate governance system. This system is reflected in the management approach to sustainability that engages all levels of the company through the comprehensive lens of our ESG+F strategy (environment, society, governance and financial strength), and serves as a key driver of the company’s business success.
“While addressing the tough challenges of 2020, we saw companies lead – above all other institutions – on earning the trust of stakeholders through resilience and a commitment to ethics and integrity,” said Ethisphere CEO, Timothy Erblich. “The World’s Most Ethical Companies honorees continue to demonstrate an unwavering commitment to the highest values and positively impacting the communities they serve. Congratulations to everyone at AVANGRID for earning the World’s Most Ethical Companies designation.”
Ethics & Performance
Ethisphere’s research supports the conclusion that ethics and financial performance go hand-in-hand. Its annual practice of tracking how the stock prices of publicly traded honorees compare to the Large Cap Index found that listed 2021 World’s Most Ethical Companies outperformed the large cap sector over five years by 7.1 percent. This “Ethics Premium” forms the basis upon which companies can correlate responsible behavior with shareholder value.
Methodology & Scoring
Grounded in Ethisphere’s proprietary Ethics Quotient®, the World’s Most Ethical Companies assessment process includes more than 200 questions on culture, environmental and social practices, ethics and compliance activities, governance, diversity and initiatives to support a strong value chain. The process serves as an operating framework to capture and codify the leading practices of organizations across industries and around the globe.
This year, the process was streamlined, and the question set was expanded to gauge how applicants are adapting and responding to the global health pandemic, environmental, social, and governance factors, safety, equity, and inclusion and social justice.
Honorees
The full list of the 2021 World's Most Ethical Companies can be found at https://worldsmostethicalcompanies.com/honorees.
About AVANGRID: AVANGRID, Inc. (NYSE: AGR) is a leading, sustainable energy company with approximately $36 billion in assets and operations in 24 U.S. states. With headquarters in Orange, Connecticut, AVANGRID has two primary lines of business: Avangrid Networks and Avangrid Renewables. Avangrid Networks owns eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.3 million customers in New York and New England. Avangrid Renewables owns and operates a portfolio of renewable energy generation facilities across the United States. AVANGRID employs approximately 6,600 people. AVANGRID supports the U.N.’s Sustainable Development Goals and was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2019 and 2020 by the Ethisphere Institute. For more information, visit www.avangrid.com.
About the Ethisphere Institute: The Ethisphere® Institute is the global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices that fuel corporate character, marketplace trust and business success. Ethisphere has deep expertise in measuring and defining core ethics standards using data-driven insights that help companies enhance corporate character and measure and improve culture. Ethisphere honors superior achievement through its World’s Most Ethical Companies recognition program and provides a community of industry experts with the Business Ethics Leadership Alliance (BELA). More information about Ethisphere can be found at: https://ethisphere.com.
