May 14,2009
The New York State Public Service Commission today approved a two-year natural gas rate plan for National Grid’s 579,000 Upstate New York customers.
The approved plan includes funding to maintain a safe and reliable natural gas delivery system in Upstate New York and to invest in new technologies and improvements. The approval marks the first natural gas base delivery rate increase for National Grid’s Upstate New York customers since 1996.
The approved plan, based on a joint proposal negotiated with the staff of the New York Department of Public Service and other interested parties supports past and continued investment in the service area’s gas infrastructure and operations, and accounts for increased costs in supplies, services and workforce expenses since 1996.
By early 2010, National Grid will have expanded its Upstate New York gas distribution infrastructure investment by $300 million since 1996. Additional significant investments will come in the maintenance of regulator stations, general system reinforcement and new capital projects to replace aging facilities or meet demand in specific growth pockets.
“Investment in infrastructure is paramount in reliably delivering the benefits of natural gas, the fuel of choice to support the power of action on climate change, to our customers,” said Nickolas Stavropoulos, National Grid’s executive vice president of U.S. gas distribution. “Through cost control, prudent management, new technology, merger synergy savings and other actions, National Grid has been able to avoid increasing base gas delivery rates for more than a decade. Today’s approved plan is the appropriate response to the essential need to establish a sound future platform for system reliability and to address the dramatic increases in costs and system investment since 1996.”
The typical National Grid residential customer’s monthly bill consists of two major components, a delivery charge, the costs to bring the gas directly to customers, maintain the local gas network and provide emergency response, and a supply charge, the cost of natural gas consumed.
The company passes the cost of consumed gas directly on to customers without markup. While actual monthly bills fluctuate greatly by season, under the new plan a typical residential customer’s average total monthly bill will increase by about 4.9 percent from $116.00 to $121.70.
To help mitigate the increase to customers, National Grid has undertaken several new energy efficiency programs designed to advance the efficient use of natural gas to reduce overall demand. Programs include: Home weatherization, incentives to purchase efficient appliances, interactive online efficiency tools, incentives for commercial customers to install high-efficiency systems, and additional funding for low-income programs.
As part of this plan, National Grid will give additional consideration to the special needs of low-income customers, including discounts for HEAP recipients, expansion of arrears credits under our Affordability program, and an additional incentive for qualifying elderly, blind and disabled customers to enroll in HEAP.
Detailed information and applications to participate in these new programs are available at National Grid’s energy efficiency web site at www.thinksmartthinkgreen.com. Information is also available by calling 1-866-716-8099.
The plan calls for the new delivery rates to be effective May 20, 2009.
National Grid is an international energy delivery company. In the U.S., National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, and manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. National Grid also owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation that provides power to over one million LIPA customers.