CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

New York utility regulators have good reason to question expenses that National Grid wants to pass on to its customers.

In all, regulators found at least $300,000 worth of questionable expenses National Grid was preparing to pass on to customers in Massachusetts, where the utility is seeking the biggest gas rate increase in that state’s history.

In New York, where National Grid wants to raise Upstate electric rates by $400 million, regulators say National Grid tried to include many of its questionable expenses in the rate increase for its Niagara Mohawk electric subsidiary serving Upstate, according to Public Service Commission staff testimony.

National Grid this week offered to remove the offending charges from its rate-hike request. But staff accountants at the Public Service Commission have repeatedly questioned the reasonableness and accuracy of National Grid’s costs, and the company’s initial inclusion of these charges does nothing to allay those concerns.

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