Transforming for a Sustainable Energy Future

Electricity plays a vital role in our lives. As our reliance grows, sustained power outages become more damaging and costly, with significant human and economic impacts. As our grid faces further challenges from extreme weather, aging infrastructure, and rising demand, increasing resilience is more important than ever. That’s where S&C innovation makes a difference. Our solutions transform the grid to be more resilient, reliable, and responsive to the needs of a rapidly changing world.

To meet the urgency for our proven technologies, we expanded our Chicagoland operations in 2024 by opening our new 275,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Palatine, Illinois. This state-of-the-art LEED Silver-certified facility enhances our production capacity, streamlines our processes, and enables us to expand our product. The Palatine facility created 200 production and engineering jobs, strengthening our presence as the second-largest manufacturer in Chicago.

As always, our commitment to safety remains our top priority. In 2024, we saw a significant reduction in workplace incidents. This was thanks to the emphasis on leading indicators and organizational engagement, including our team members' participation in daily ergonomic exercise routines and the ongoing efforts of our Safety Action Teams and Safety Steering Committee. We’re pleased by this progress towards our safety vision – that all injuries are preventable.

A diverse and dynamic workforce is key to our continued growth and success. In 2024, we partnered with the Department of Defense’s SkillBridge program to provide career training and placement opportunities for military service members transitioning from active duty. This initiative earned S&C the “Hire Our Heroes” Certified Employer designation and highlights our commitment to supporting veterans as they build rewarding careers in our industry.

Our workplace culture, driven by our Values and Guiding Principles, continues to earn recognition. Once again, USA Today and the Chicago Tribune honored us by naming us a top workplace. We were also recognized on the National Center for Employee Ownership's (NCEO) Employee Ownership 100 list, celebrating our employee-driven collaboration and innovation culture.

We also continued to advance our sustainability leadership. For the second consecutive year, S&C received the Leading Practices in Supply Chain Sustainability Case Study Award from the Sustainable Supply Chain Alliance (SSCA), recognizing our efforts to decarbonize our manufacturing operations. I’m proud to share that we were once again rated a B score in the 2024 CDP climate change disclosure—a meaningful achievement, especially given the CDP’s updated and expanded scoring system, which now places greater emphasis on comprehensive environmental management. In alignment with our aim to advance our sustainability reporting efforts, we also disclosed our water security practices for the first time, earning a B- score.

This year, S&C received more A-level scores than ever before across four disclosure categories—including improvements in Energy (C to B), Risk Disclosure (C to A), Opportunities Disclosure (C to A), and Dependencies, Impacts, Risks, and Opportunities Process (B to A). These results reflect our growing commitment to transparency, continuous improvement, and environmental focus.

In closing, I am deeply grateful and thankful  to our team members for their dedication to caring for each other, our customers, and our communities. Their commitment to safety, operational excellence, and innovation makes S&C what it is today and is essential to our continued success.

To our customers and partners, thank you for your collaboration, trust, and support. Together, we will transform the grid for an outage-free, sustainable electrical energy future.

Read more about our sustainability efforts in our 2024 Sustainability Report.