12/24/2023 0 Comments National grid maHow Big Is the Settlement?Īccording to the National Grid TCPA settlement email notice and a December 2021 article from JD Supra, a $38.5 million settlement was reached. The case has been around since at least 2017. The time period at issue in the settlement was from March 9, 2011, through Oct. Plaintiffs Jarrett Jenkins, Emmot Steele, Frances Royal, Danai Ewan, and Charmaine Whyte filed the lawsuit against National Grid and some of its affiliated companies about these issues. “National Grid” includes utilities operating in New York as KeySpan Gas East Corporation, The Brooklyn Union Gas Company, Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation in Massachusetts as Boston Gas Company, Colonial Gas Company (now part of Boston Gas), Massachusetts Electric Company, Nantucket Electric Company and in Rhode Island as The Narragansett Electric Company. Many of the calls were made to persons who are or were National Grid utility account holders, but some calls were made to persons who were not a National Grid account holder. Some of the calls at issue in the lawsuit were made directly by National Grid, while others were made by debt collectors hired by National Grid to collect utility debts that were allegedly past due. National Grid denies those allegations and disputes that it did anything wrong. Plaintiffs allege that this conduct violates the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. According to the settlement website’s FAQ page, “the lawsuit claims that National Grid and its debt collectors made calls with automated dialers and/or prerecorded or artificial voice messages to cellular telephones,” and that these telemarketing actions were done “without the prior express consent of the persons called”: “TCPA” stands for the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. National Grid USA Service Company Inc., et al.” The case number was listed as 15-cv-1219 in the U.S. This was a legitimate notice for a real class action settlement for National Grid. The email had the subject line, “Notice of National Grid TCPA Settlement,” and linked to the website,. In a filing with the PSC last week, National Grid said that it would push the proposed rate increases to March of 2022 "with the understanding" that the PSC would include a provision in the rate plan that would ensure that the utility "is restored to the same financial position it would have been in had there been no extension and new rates went into effect on July 1, 2021.In January 2022, Google users looked to find out if an email for a proposed class action settlement for National Grid was a “scam or legit,” as readers often do after receiving such notices. Kathy Hochul takes over for Cuomo, who is resigning next week amid his sexual harassment scandal.Įven though National Grid's next rate increases, if approved by the PSC, won't take place until next March, the utility would be able to recoup that lost revenue in any settlement with the PSC. Andrew Cuomo, although it is possible that could change when Lt. Moody's also mentioned in that March report that "political rhetoric and actions taken towards various state utilities have increased" under Gov. Moody's, one of the rating services, specifically noted in a March report that the PSC "appears to have placed greater emphasis on affordability" during its most recent interactions with National Grid, which also provides gas service in the New York City area. Several of the major bond rating services downgraded the ratings of National Grid's British parent company and several of its subsidiaries earlier this year as the utility's efforts to raise rates were slowed by the pandemic. Last year, as the COVID-19 pandemic and government lockdown orders caused widespread unemployment and financial hardship for its customers, National Grid delayed implementing a previously approved rate hike for gas and electric service that was supposed to take effect in April 2020. The PSC could also force National Grid to reduce the amount of its rate hike request, something that consumer groups have been urging the PSC to do. The utility and the PSC could decide to spread the increases out over several years during the settlement talks. That would be the scenario if National Grid's $142 million rate increase were to take effect all at once. Under National Grid's rate hike plan, the average residential electric bill would increase $3.43 per month, or about 4 percent, and the average residential gas bill would increase $4.53 per month, or about 6 percent.
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