Citizens Energy Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
042691955
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Boston, MA, USA
Phone
6173386300
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,987,263
Expenses
$4,274,630
Assets
$121,876,306
Liabilities
$769,751

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PETER F SMITH (CEO)
  • JOSEPH P KENNEDY III (PRESIDENT)
  • GINETTE TRASK (EXEC ASST TO CHAIR, CEO, CFO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PETER F SMITH (CEO): $1,184,402 total reported compensation
  • ERNEST J PANOS (CFO): $754,671 total reported compensation
  • JOSEPH P KENNEDY III (PRESIDENT): $536,899 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Citizens energy corporation provides low cost energy services to low-income families in the u.s. By developing successful energy projects and using the profits to fund assistance programs.

What it reported doing in 2024

Unrestricted donations made to non-profitsrelated of $378,461 and including grants of $378,461natural gas assistance fund: related of $86,850 and including grants of $86,850during 1984, citizens energy corporation began a natural gas assistance program for the purpose of providing lower-cost natural gas to low-income & elderly people throughout the united states and heating assistance for homeless shelters. The assistance fund is administered by local social services agencies within their area to provide grants to needy users.other programs note: in 2019, citizens launched its "joe-4-sun" low-income community solar program. The program provides retail electricity bill credits at a 50% discount to more than 2,500 income-qualified needy families across Massachusetts and New York, saving each family approximately $300 per year. The bill credits originate from solar projects developed, built, owned, and operated by citizens enterprises' subsidiaries. Joe-4-sun provides approximately $800,000 per year of electricity savings to low-income families.in addition to the joe-4-sun low-income community solar program, citizens also provides approximately $2.3 million/year of electricity savings to municipalities, colleges, and non-profit organizations from bill credits generated from its solar projects. During 2024, citizens incurred $779,971 in expenses for outreach, marketing, and customer service related to administering the joe-4-sun program.in 2023, citizens, in partnership with vineyard wind, began a program to purchase net metering or solar bill credits on behalf of low-income ratepayers who live in coastal areas impacted by the vineyard wind offshore wind project. Purchasing the bill credits for these households further reduces their monthly electric bills, beyond the initial savings from the discounted bill credits. During 2024, citizens spent $133,454 to reduce 213 low-income household's energy bills.in 2024, citizens, in partnership with vineyard wind, provided $135,915 to fund a rooftop solar project for eight senior, low-income housing units for the mashpee wampanoag tribe.

Operating model

Revenue model
Affiliate-supported. 60% of the money available for current operations came from contributions from related organizations.
Distribution model
Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 77% of its reported program spending out as grants.

The verdict

SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Few specific pay-setting methods are documented in the filing; unanswered boxes are not proof of absence and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 82
  • Transparency & Controls: 70
  • Accountability: 76
  • Sustainability: 42
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 80.1%; rating input score 80
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 5th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 0 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 0
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 89.7%; rating input score 90; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 75%; rating input score 75; 13th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -43.1%; rating input score 3; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 28.51; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.9%; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -10.5% per year; rating input score 0; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.3% per year; rating input score 100; 36th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 80.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 3 of 4 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 4 filed program accomplishments · $3.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.2M · 12 people listed · 0 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $120K reported
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 19 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 30 filed related-organization links
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Pay-setting controls scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 3/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.