PROVIDENCE – After securing the green light from Rhode Island utility regulators, the court in a neighboring state has stepped in to stop the sale of Rhode Island’s primary electric and gas business for at least several months.
The Mass. Supreme Judicial Court in an order on Thursday granted a lower court order that freezes the sale of Narragansett Electric Co. from National Grid to PLL Corp., according to public court filings. That means the R.I. Superior Court has also put on hold its own decision on the R.I. Attorney General Peter F. Neronha’s attempt to press pause on the sale, according to Craig Berke, a spokesman for the R.I. Judiciary.
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The R.I. Division of Public Utilities and Carriers approved the $3.8 billion sale of Rhode Island’s power business to Pennsylvania-based PPL Corp. in February. A day later, the R.I. Attorney General’s Office, which had previously urged state regulators not to approve the deal, filed an appeal and stay motion in R.I. Superior Court, seeking further review of the decision.
Meanwhile, the Mass. Office of Attorney General Maura Healey had also been challenging the transaction in the Bay State’s court system. While the deal primarily affects Rhode Island customers, the Mass. Department of Public Utilities was also required to sign off because National Grid is a holding company with subsidiaries in Massachusetts.
National Grid in May 2021 asked Massachusetts regulators for a waiver that would exempt the sale from a more thorough review in the Bay State, since the deal was not expected to affect Massachusetts ratepayers, according to its petition. Massachusetts regulators in July agreed to the waiver, which the Mass. Attorney General’s Office then appealed, saying the state regulators did not meet the legal requirements to grant such a waiver and asking the courts to freeze the waiver approval to give time for more review.
Mass. Chief Justice Scott Kafker granted a temporary stay on the decision on Feb. 24, which was then upheld by the full Mass. Supreme Judicial Court on Thursday. The court in its order scheduled oral arguments in the case for May, meaning the sale cannot go through before that time.
The Massachusetts court decision frees the R.I. Superior Court from making its own ruling on the R.I. Attorney General appeal for the time being, since the deal cannot be finalized right now anyway.
The sale, which already received the go-ahead from federal regulators, has drawn criticism from several Rhode Island consumer advocacy and environmental groups, including Neronha. Among their concerns is the potential for higher costs for ratepayers under PPL’s ownership, as well as how the new owners will help meet the state’s ambitious decarbonization mandates.
Ryan Hill, a spokesman for PPL, issued a response by email on Thursday, saying, “We remain confident the court will find that the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities correctly issued the waiver and that the transaction can move forward. In the meantime, we continue to plan for a successful outcome and completion of the Narragansett acquisition. We will be prepared to close quickly with National Grid at the appropriate time.”
National Grid did not immediately respond to inquiries for comment.
If the sale goes through, PPL will serve roughly 3.5 million electricity and gas customers in the United States, including an estimated 780,000 in Rhode Island.
(UPDATE adds ninth paragraph with comment from PPL.)
Nancy Lavin is a PBN staff writer. Contact her at Lavin@PBN.com.
