National Grid, the British-owned utility serving 3 million U.S. customers
National Grid is one of the largest investor-owned energy companies in the northeastern United States, delivering electricity and natural gas to more than 20 million people across New York and Massachusetts. The company is rolling out one of the largest five-year capital plans of any U.S. utility, with around $35 billion of investment in U.S. networks through 2029.
- The size of the National Grid network and the regions it covers
- Why power outages happen on the National Grid system
- The Upstate Upgrade and Massachusetts Electric Sector Modernization Plan
- How AMI smart meters and Smart Path Connect are reshaping reliability
From the Adirondacks to Rhode Island: a tri-state Northeast footprint
National Grid operates as a transmission and distribution utility (TDU). The company runs separate businesses in upstate New York, downstate New York (Long Island and parts of New York City for gas), Massachusetts and, formerly, Rhode Island.
- More than 20 million people served across New York and Massachusetts.
- Upstate New York: about 1.7 million electric customers and 640,000 gas customers across 25,000 square miles in more than 680 cities, villages and towns.
- More than 3 GW of distributed renewable generation already connected, mostly solar.
- About 360,000 AMI smart meters installed in New York and around 220,000 in Massachusetts.
National Grid (NYSE: NGG) is regulated by the New York Public Service Commission and the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities. The U.S. business operates independently of its UK parent.
Why nor'easters and ice storms drive National Grid outages
Both upstate New York and New England face severe winter storms, increasingly frequent extreme weather events and a substantial amount of infrastructure that is more than 40 years old.
Severe winter weather
Heavy snow, ice storms, lake-effect events and nor'easters drive most multi-day outages on both the upstate New York and Massachusetts networks. Climate-driven changes in storm intensity have made resiliency a central focus of recent rate plans.
Summer thunderstorms and microbursts
Powerful thunderstorms and microbursts cause concentrated outages, particularly in suburban and rural parts of upstate New York and central Massachusetts.
Trees and vegetation
Both service areas are heavily forested, and tree contact remains a recurring cause of unplanned power outages. Vegetation management is a large recurring line item in every rate case.
Aging infrastructure
Outside New York City, the upstate network includes a significant amount of infrastructure over 40 years old that needs replacement or refurbishment. The same is true on parts of the Massachusetts distribution and transmission system.
The $30 billion U.S. infrastructure plan
National Grid plans to invest about $35 billion in its U.S. networks over five years, more than 60% above the previous five-year plan, supporting an estimated 127,000 jobs by 2030.
National Grid investment plan
Around $35 billion in U.S. infrastructure investment over five years (out of about $75 billion globally).
Roughly $21 billion of investment in New York through 2029.
Around $14 billion of investment in New England (Massachusetts) over five years.
Upstate Upgrade: more than 70 transmission enhancement projects across upstate New York.
Smart Path Connect: 644 transmission towers already installed for new clean-energy capacity.
Upstate New York rate plan: $1.4 billion in electricity delivery and $351 million in natural gas in the first year alone.
The Massachusetts Electric Sector Modernization Plan (ESMP) sets a parallel path to upgrade and expand the electric grid, accelerate clean energy interconnection and introduce new customer programs.
Smart meters, microgrids and resiliency hubs
Upstate Upgrade and Smart Path Connect
The Upstate Upgrade is a transmission program rebuilding aging high-voltage lines and adding new capacity to handle the growth of clean energy in upstate New York. Smart Path Connect is a flagship project within this effort, replacing older 230 kV transmission with new 345 kV lines on 644 already-installed towers.
Advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)
Smart meter deployment is well under way: more than 360,000 AMI meters in New York and around 220,000 in Massachusetts. The system detects outages at the address level and confirms restoration without customer phone calls.
Massachusetts ESMP
The Electric Sector Modernization Plan accelerates renewable interconnection, supports electrification of buildings and transport and modernizes legacy substation and feeder equipment.
Leak-prone pipe replacement
On the gas side, National Grid replaced 159 miles of leak-prone pipe in New York and 49 miles in Massachusetts in a recent six-month window, reducing methane emissions and the risk of cascading service problems.
National Grid outage central and Power Outage Alerts
National Grid outage map
National Grid publishes a public outage map updated in near real-time, with separate views for New York and Massachusetts. Customers can search by town or zip code and see the size of an outage and follow estimated restoration times.
Mobile app and alerts
The National Grid mobile app gives access to the outage map, lets customers report a power outage and pushes proactive SMS, email and app notifications when service is interrupted.
Bill assistance and energy efficiency
National Grid runs the Affordability Program in New York, a similar discount in Massachusetts, plus partnerships with state programs (HEAP, LIHEAP) and Mass Save energy efficiency rebates.
Eversource and New England's main ISPs
For a wider view of how the U.S. electric grid works and why outages happen, see the U.S. power outage page. The other major utility serving New England is Eversource in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. For internet outages across the same New York and New England footprint, the most common providers are Xfinity, Verizon and Optimum.