CITIZEN POWER ALLIANCE

ALBANY -- State regulators say they have been having trouble getting information out of National Grid on its request to implement a new electric rate plan.

In fact, according to documents filed in the case earlier this month by the state Department of Public Service, it's been like pulling teeth.

National Grid "has failed to respond, failed to fully respond, or failed to timely respond to innumerable staff interrogatory requests," DPS wrote. "As a result of (National Grid's) neglect, staff, on average, has lost more than one-and-a-half months in allotted time to complete its audit..."

London-based National Grid submitted a request to the state Public Service Commission in late January asking for permission to hike electric rates by $390 million a year. The DPS is the administrative arm of the PSC, a five-person board that oversees utility regulation in the state.

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