The Rhode Island Attorney General's Office is dropping its objection to the sale of National Grid's electricity and gas service in the state. A.G. Peter Neronha says he secured two-hundred-million dollars for Rhode Island ratepayers in the settlement with Pennsylvania-based PPL Corporation. The agreement includes no distribution rate increases for three years and forgiving over 40-million in debt for low-income customers.
“This Office appealed the DPUC’s decision to the Superior Court because that decision failed to adequately protect and advance the interests of Rhode Islanders. Up front, it applied the wrong legal standard in reviewing the proposed transaction, requiring a showing far less than what the law requires. In terms of substance, the DPUC would have allowed PPL to impose millions of dollars of transition and other costs on Rhode Islanders" according to Attorney General Peter Neronha.
PPL will partner with National Grid, which is remaining in Massachusetts, to respond to power outages caused by severe weather.
The company will also follow the guidelines of the Rhode Island Act on Climate, which has set a zero-emission target by 2050.