Avangrid Foundation Awards Grant to Gulf of Maine Research Institute for STEM Education

ORANGE, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan 6, 2026--

The Avangrid Foundation, the philanthropic arm of leading energy company Avangrid Inc., a member of the Iberdrola Group, today announced that it has awarded the Gulf of Maine Research Institute (GMRI) a $50,000 grant in support of their educational initiative, LabVenture: Building STEM skills for Maine. The grant will help the GMRI deliver immersive, hands-on science learning for approximately 8,300 middle school students across Maine.

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“The future of the energy industry depends on a new generation of leaders who are not only passionate about innovation but equipped with the scientific literacy and problem-solving skills to drive meaningful change,” said Avangrid CEO Jose Antonio Miranda. “At Avangrid, we recognize that investing in STEM education today is essential to building a smarter, more reliable energy future tomorrow.”

“At the Avangrid Foundation, we believe that access to STEM education is essential for building resilient and growing communities and preparing young people to lead in an increasingly complex world,” said Pablo Colón, Director of Corporate Citizenship and Executive Director of the Avangrid Foundation. “The Gulf of Maine Research Institute offers transformative educational opportunities, and we are proud to support their mission encouraging and inspiring the next generation of scientists, innovators, and leaders across Maine.”

The grant will enable GMRI to reach 70% of Maine’s 5th–6th grade cohort, with a strong focus on underserved communities—including low-income, New Mainer, rural, and Wabanaki students. In addition to student engagement, GMRI will provide educators with wrap-around curriculum support and professional development to extend the impact of LabVenture beyond the lab and into classrooms statewide.

“Over the past 20 years, we’ve reached more than 170,000 Maine students with LabVenture, making it the most shared out-of-school learning experience in our state. We believe that no matter where a student wakes up in the morning, they deserve access to engaging and transformative STEM learning. We’re so appreciative to the funders like Avangrid Foundation who join us in this belief,” said Leigh Peake, GMRI Chief Education Officer. "LabVenture, now celebrating its 20th year, is designed to ignite curiosity and build scientific confidence among Maine’s 5th and 6th graders. Through interactive experiences at GMRI’s Cohen Centre for Interactive Learning, students become scientists for a day—examining plankton under microscopes, analysing NASA satellite data, and exploring marine biodiversity in the Gulf of Maine. The program blends technology, inquiry-based learning, and diverse scientific role models to foster climate and STEM literacy in a rapidly changing world.”

About the Gulf of Maine Research Institute: The Gulf of Maine Research Institute develops and delivers collaborative solutions to global ocean challenges. Located in Portland, ME, the institute is dedicated to the resilience of the Gulf of Maine ecosystem and the communities that depend on it. For more information, visit www.gmri.org.

About Avangrid Foundation: The Avangrid Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization that funds philanthropic investments that primarily impact communities where Avangrid, Inc. and its subsidiaries operate. Since 2001, the Avangrid Foundation and its predecessors have invested more than $42.4 million in partnerships that focus on building sustainable, vital and healthy communities; preserving cultural and artistic heritage; advancing education; and improving people’s lives. The Avangrid Foundation is committed to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in the United States. For more information, please visit https://www.avangrid.com/avangrid-foundation.

About Avangrid: Avangrid, Inc. is a leading energy company in the United States working to meet the growing demand for energy for homes and businesses across the nation through service, innovation, and continued investments by expanding grid infrastructure and energy generation projects. Avangrid has offices in Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, Maine, and Oregon, including operations in 23 states with approximately $48 billion in assets, and has two primary lines of business: networks and power. Through its networks business, Avangrid owns and operates eight electric and natural gas utilities, serving more than 3.4 million customers in New York and New England. Through its power generation business, Avangrid owns and operates 80 energy generation facilities across the United States producing 10.5 GW of power for over 3.1 million customers. Avangrid employs approximately 8,000 people and has been recognized by JUST Capital as one of the JUST 100 companies – a ranking of America’s best corporate citizens – in 2025 for the fifth consecutive year. The company was named among the World’s Most Ethical Companies in 2025 for the seventh consecutive year by the Ethisphere Institute. Avangrid is a member of the group of companies controlled by Iberdrola, S.A. For more information, visit http://www.avangrid.com.

Gulf of Maine Research Institute students’ artwork and thank you notes. Courtesy of Avangrid Foundation

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House refused Thursday to override President Donald Trump's veto of two low-profile bills as Republicans stuck with the president despite their prior support for the measures.

Congress can override a veto with support from two-thirds of the members of the House and the Senate. The threshold is rarely reached. In this case, Republicans opted to avoid a fight in an election year over bills with little national significance. The two vetoes were the first of Trump's second term.

One bill Trump vetoed was designed to help local communities finance the construction of a pipeline to provide water to tens of thousands in Colorado. The other designated a site in Everglades National Park as a part of the Miccosukee Indian Reservation.

The White House did not issue any veto threats prior to passage of the bills, so Trump's scathing comments in his veto message came as a surprise to sponsors of the legislation. Ultimately, his vetoes had the effect of punishing those who had opposed the president’s positions on other issues.

The water pipeline bill came from Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado, a longtime Trump ally who broke with the president in November to release files on convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. The bill to give the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians more control of some of its tribal lands would have benefited one of the groups that sued the administration over an immigration detention center known as “ Alligator Alcatraz.”

Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said leadership was not urging — or “whipping” — members on how to vote. He said he would personally vote to sustain the vetoes and the president's message opposing the bills “sounded very reasonable to me.” He said he understood the concerns of the Colorado lawmakers about the veto and would work to help them on the pipeline issue going forward.

Boebert said she has been talking to colleagues individually about overriding Trump's veto, but wasn't sure about hitting the two-thirds threshold. Some colleagues “don't want to go against the president,” she said.

On the House floor, Boebert told colleagues that the communities targeted through the bill could see the cost of their drinking water triple without the legislation.

“This bill makes good not only on a 60-year plus commitment without wasting hundreds of millions of dollars in state and local and federal investments, but it also makes good on President Trump's commitment to rural communities, to Western water issues,” Boebert said.

When asked by a reporter if the veto was in response to her signing a discharge petition to release the Epstein files, she said, “I certainly hope not.”

Trump did not allude to Boebert in his veto of her legislation, but raised concerns about the cost of the water pipeline, saying “restoring fiscal sanity is vital to economic growth and the fiscal health of the Nation.”

Rep. Jeff Hurd, another Colorado Republican, also urged colleagues to override the veto, saying the vote was not about defying Trump but defending Congress.

“If Congress walks away from a 60-year commitment mid-project, then no Western project is truly secure," Hurd said.

The Florida legislation had been sponsored by Republican Rep. Carlos Gimenez, whom Trump has endorsed. In his veto message, Trump was critical of the tribe, saying, “The Miccosukee Tribe has actively sought to obstruct reasonable immigration policies that the American people decisively voted for when I was elected.”

Before the House voted to pass his bill, Gimenez said it would simply allow an inhabited tribal village to be included in the Miccosukee Reservation, empowering the tribe to manage water flow into the Everglades and raise structures within the camp to prevent flooding. He did not speak on the floor prior to the vote.

Instead, Democratic Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida urged colleagues to vote to override.

“This bill is so narrowly focused that (the veto) makes absolutely no sense other than the interest in vengeance that seems to have emanated in this result,” Wasserman Schultz said.

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., said he would vote to override the president's vetoes.

“They passed unanimously,” Bacon said of the bills. “And I don't know if I agree with the explanations for the veto."

Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, R-N.Y., said she would vote to sustain the vetoes.

“My constituents want me to stand with Trump,” Malliotakis said.

Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., left, speaks with Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., during a hearing of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform on Capitol Hill, Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump speaks to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

FILE - Airboats carry members of a task force that brings together federal, state, tribal and local agencies working to restore and protect the Florida Everglades, on a field visit to the Miccosukee Indian Reservation ahead of a task force meeting hosted by the Miccosukee Tribe, April 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)