National Grid : Begins to Re-connect Customers in Response to PSC Order

National Grid Begins to Re-connect Customers in Response to PSC Order Oct 15, 2019

Company Begins Re-connecting Previously Served Customers

(Known as Inactive Accounts)

Connection Restriction Guidelines for Other Customers Requesting New or Expanded Service Still Applies in Downstate New York

MELVILLE, N.Y. and BROOKLYN, N.Y. - In response to the New York State Public Service Commission's order to re-connect nearly 1,000 customers, National Grid has taken immediate steps to re-connect residential natural gas customers in downstate New York who had inactive accounts, applied for gas service and were denied during the connection restrictions policy that went into effect in May 2019.

'We've begun the process of contacting and re-connecting natural gas service to residential customers in Brooklyn, Queens, Nassau and Suffolk Counties who were previously disconnected from our system more than two years ago, no longer accounted for in our supply portfolio and denied re-connection under our current connection restriction guidelines,' says John Bruckner, president of National Grid New York. 'We care and are concerned for all customers impacted by this issue, and it's clear we could have done a better job communicating to this particular segment of customers.'

To execute the reconnection plan safely and efficiently, the Company has activated its Emergency Response Plan, where a cross-functional team is tasked to implement this major re-connection effort.

'Our effort to re-connect this segment of customers started immediately after receiving the order,' says Bruckner. 'Our objective is to contact all customers outlined in the order by the end of this week and schedule a re-connection appointment based on their needs. Our goal is to re-connect the majority of these customers within the mid-November timeframe.'

Bruckner continued, 'To aid in this effort, we're expanding our existing demand response and energy efficiency programs to reduce overall energy use, which will help create additional capacity to serve these customers. But let's remember, while securing contingency supply solutions will help our customers in the short-term, we still need additional, long-term and firm supplies of natural gas.'

As a result of this underlying supply issue, the service connection restrictions currently in place must remain in effect for all other customers who've requested new or expanded service. This is to maintain the safety, reliability, and integrity of the current gas system that serves more than 1.8 million existing customers in downstate New York.

'We know how frustrating this situation has been for customers that have been waiting to be approved for gas service. We've been in this business for more than 100 years and there's nothing we want more than to satisfy every customer request for gas service,' says Bruckner. 'Unfortunately, that's not possible given the current constraints on gas supply.'

National Grid is also managing issues associated with the recent announcement by a transmission pipeline company regarding constraints on its existing interstate pipeline network that feeds into the Company's distribution system, which will even further impact the downstate supply challenge. In an attempt to address this, the Company is deploying several short-term solutions like portable compressed natural gas stations and adding a higher than usual percentage of gas supply from spot commodity markets. This supply issue underscores the challenge the Company will have this winter for lifting all connection restrictions even if the current efforts to secure firm gas for future winters are successful.

'We'll continue to cooperate with the NYPSC and all other parties to address these important supply and customer connection issues,' added Bruckner.

About National Grid

National Grid (LSE: NG; NYSE: NGG) is an electricity, natural gas, and clean energy delivery company serving more than 20 million people through our networks in New York, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. We are the largest distributor of natural gas in the Northeast. National Grid also operates the systems that deliver gas and electricity across Great Britain.

National Grid is transforming our electricity and natural gas networks with smarter, cleaner, and more resilient energy solutions to meet the goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050. Our Northeast 80×50 Pathway is an industry leading analysis for how to reach that goal in the states we serve, focusing on the power generation, heat, and transportation sectors.

Read more about National Grid's vision to accelerate the transition to a decarbonized economy and rebuild opportunity for America's working families in The Clean Energy Promise, an eBook written by National Grid's U.S. president, Dean Seavers.

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