Our Mission
Citizens Energy Corporation was founded by former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II in 1979 to make life's basic needs more affordable. The company has provided over $600 million in charitable benefits through our profits from dozens of successful businesses.
Our History
Non-profit Citizens Energy Corporation was founded in 1979 to make life's basic needs more accessible and affordable. When Citizens was founded, oil majors were making record profits off fuel sales needy Americans could barely afford.
Citizens bought crude oil from producing countries, shipped, refined and sold it, while sending heating oil produced by the refineries to needy households having trouble keeping up with the costs of staying warm. The company's oil heat program eventually served millions of Americans in 23 states and the District of Columbia. As America's energy needs evolved, Citizens has expanded into renewable energy and transmission projects while continuing to use profits to assist low-income households.
Learn moreOur Team
- Joseph P. Kennedy II
- Founder & Chairman
- Joseph P. Kennedy III
- President
- Peter Smith
- CEO
- Ernie Panos
- CFO
- Kristina Perez
- Director of Charitable Programs
- Brian Morrissey
- Managing Director
- Michael Kennedy
- President of Citizens International
- Brian O’Connor
- VP of Public Affairs
Joseph P. Kennedy II
Founder & Chairman
Joseph P. Kennedy II founded Citizens Energy in 1979 and over the next seven years built up successful ventures in the oil, natural gas, electricity trading, energy conservation and mail-order pharmaceutical industries. Each subsidiary produced profits used to make life’s basic needs more affordable for the poor. The eldest son of the late U.S. Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy, Joe left the company in 1986 to represent the 8th District of Massachusetts in Congress. During his 12-year tenure on Capitol Hill he authored landmark legislation that used the levers of private enterprise to deliver social and economic benefits to millions of Americans, from fair lending laws to tax credits that stimulate affordable housing development. He was a champion of human rights, social justice, humanitarian aid and democracy in Northern Ireland, Haiti and Armenia. After returning to the helm of Citizens Energy in 1999, Kennedy expanded the company’s oil heat program, launched a major health-care company and started ventures in the wind, solar, battery storage, microgrid and high-voltage transmission industries.
Joseph P. Kennedy III
President
Joseph P. Kennedy III serves as President of Citizens Energy to advance commercial and policy initiatives that align with the company’s mission. His focus is on renewable power, using successful energy ventures to generate revenues to lower the cost of green energy for struggling households. He also is the founder of the Groundwork Project and served eight years as a U.S. Representative for the Fourth District of Massachusetts.
In Congress he served as a member of the influential House Energy & Commerce Committee where he prioritized economic opportunity for working families. He authored several pieces of legislation in Washington aimed at improving access to the modern economy, including the Perkins Modernization Act, STEM Gateways Act and the Revitalize American Manufacturing Act.
Throughout his tenure in Washington and entrepreneurial pursuits at home in Massachusetts, Kennedy has become a powerful voice for social justice, championing issues like employment non-discrimination, pay equity, marriage equality and comprehensive immigration reform.
