Millions in Tax Savings to Benefit National Grid Customers in Massachusetts

Company will reduce pending gas distribution rate proposal by roughly $22 million

Note: This information was amended on February 1 to reflect updated tax calculations. 

January 11, 2018 – WALTHAM, Mass. – On the heels of expansive federal tax reform, National Grid will request a reduction in its pending natural gas distribution rate proposal with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities.

When federal tax reform legislation was signed into law in late December, the company began assessing how reductions in corporate tax rates could benefit customers. The company announced today it will update its rate proposal with the DPU for natural gas rates that will go into effect in October 2018: reducing the original $87 million request to an estimated $65 million.

“We are committed to ensuring that the tax savings of the legislation are fully realized and are used to help our customers in their energy bills,” said Cordi O’Hara, president and COO of National Grid in Massachusetts. “We’ll continue to seek opportunities to provide this benefit to all of our customers.”

The company adjusts its base distribution prices – which reflect the cost of investments in distribution, operation, and maintenance costs – through a formal process with the DPU known as a rate case. In November 2017, for the first time since 2009, National Grid filed a rate case to update natural gas distribution prices to support significant investments in the system that serves the heating and cooking needs of 908,000 Massachusetts customers.

The company does not yet have available the impact of this proposed reduction on customers’ bills. The $22 million reduction will, however, result in smaller impacts than originally proposed and will vary across rate classes and customer usage.

National Grid has been engaged in the tax reform debate for more than two years, advocating on customers’ behalf for changes that could lower their bills and operating costs. In addition to customers in Massachusetts, the new tax law will benefit the company’s customers in Rhode Island and New York.