Powering our economy while confronting climate change is the dual challenge that AVANGRID works to meet every day. Climate change is a pressing threat worldwide and clean, renewable energy, from sources such as wind and solar, is the foundation of the sustainable energy future. As Avangrid Renewables invests in new facilities and generates more clean power to build that future, we are mindful that we must avoid undue impacts. To generate responsible, sustainable energy, we take a holistic approach to mitigate potential risks to wildlife.

This is exemplified by the steps that Avangrid Renewables and the Avangrid Foundation are taking to protect and restore the population of endangered California condors. In June, 2021, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) accepted Avangrid Renewables’ innovative conservation plan for California condors and issued an incidental take permit for the Manzana Wind Power Project.

In this precedent-setting conservation plan, Avangrid Renewables has committed not only to continue the industry-leading wildlife protection measures in place at Manzana, but to go a step further to mitigate the potential impact to the condor population from the loss of two condors over a 30 year period.

Protections already in place at Manzana include a system designed to safeguard California condors. The USFWS has outfitted most free-flying condors with a VHF radio transmitter, GPS transmitter, or both, to track their locations. This provides the opportunity to detect and respond to potential collision risk by curtailing turbines and assessing the area for potential attractants when a condor is detected in the vicinity of a wind energy facility. Avangrid Renewables has proactively contracted with a third party to monitor condor movements using tracker signals and a geofence technology. This enables the company to manage risks to the species while generating clean energy.

Further risk mitigation is achieved by providing funding to the condor recovery program at the Oregon Zoo. Given the strong protections in place at Manzana, it is unlikely that two condors will be lost over 30 years. However, by pursuing this permit and developing a conservation plan, Avangrid Renewables is going above and beyond requirements and demonstrating our commitment to both minimizing and mitigating the potential impacts of our operations.

“This underscores our commitment to responsible renewable energy generation and complements the already robust protections in place for condors and other birds at our operating wind power facilities,” said Dr. Laura Nagy, director of permitting and environmental affairs for Avangrid Renewables.

Helping the California Condor Recover

The largest land-bird in North America, the California condor has a wingspan of almost 10 feet, can weigh as much as 26 pounds and is critically endangered. After dwindling to just 27 individuals in the mid-1980s, the population of condors has recovered to over 500 thanks to the extraordinary efforts of a broad coalition of regional governments, nonprofits across the western United States and other interested stakeholders, including the Oregon Zoo.

Separate from the funding provided by Avangrid Renewables through the conservation plan, the Avangrid Foundation, the primary philanthropic arm of the AVANGRID family of companies, has awarded a total of $100,000 to the Oregon Zoo since 2019 to support condor recovery efforts as a part of the Foundation’s broader support of wildlife conservation organizations nationwide.

“We are pleased support the Oregon Zoo and sister organizations in their work to protect condors and other native species,” said Nicole Grant, executive director of the Avangrid Foundation. “When we think about the iconic species of this nation, the California condor is among them. We are dedicated to investing in innovative partnerships to make sure that generations to come know this majestic species.”

This spring, ten condor chicks hatched at the Oregon Zoo’s Jonsson Center for Wildlife Conservation, more than in any other year since the program was established in 2003. It is thanks to a broad coalition of regional governments, nonprofits and other organizations, such as the Oregon Zoo, that the population has recovered to more than 500 condors, from 27 individual birds in the mid-1980s.

Of all large-scale energy sources, wind has one of the lowest impacts on wildlife. But, the efforts undertaken at the Manzana Wind Power Project and the efforts of the Avangrid Foundation illustrate our commitment to proactively address potential concerns and follow the science to protect and support important conservation gains.