Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha is asking the state Superior Court to review the sale of Rhode Island’s largest utility company. And he’s asking for an immediate stay on the transaction to prevent “extensive and irreparable harm” to energy customers.
Earlier this week, regulators approved the transfer of Narragansett Electric, the utility that provides gas and electricity to most of the state, from National Grid to PPL Corporation, which is based in Allentown, Pennsylvania.
The attorney general’s office noted in its court filings that the “$5.3 billion transaction represents the transfer of a virtual monopoly over electric and natural gas distribution in the State and stands to affect every single Rhode Islander.”
Neronha had opposed the sale, alongside several environmental groups and the Advocacy Section of the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers, which is responsible for advocating for ratepayers.
The attorney general argued that the decision didn’t address concerns about the impact of the deal on prices for customers, storm response, IT services, and PPL’s ability to cut energy-sector emissions.
“The transaction as approved would remove Narragansett [Electric] from the carefully integrated regional system of cost-efficient synergies and infrastructure developed by National Grid over decades, which has in large part already been paid for by Rhode Island ratepayers,” the attorney general’s office wrote.
Neronha raised concerns about the legal standard used to approve the deal, which he said, “creates a low threshold for approval of these significant transactions that would potentially leave Rhode Islanders at future risk.”
He also joined environmental groups in criticizing the hearing officer for failing to take the state’s legally binding emissions reduction mandates into account when considering the impact of the deal.
He said an immediate stay on the sale was necessary because National Grid and PPL intended to close within five business days.
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Reporter Sofie Rudin can be reached at srudin@thepublicsradio.org.
