International utility hones local focus

So when it came time to reorganize the company… . I think, if I don’t say so myself, I was maybe the obvious choice for the Massachusetts lead role - because of my involvement over recent years with policy and outward facing roles. I know the business, I have a lot of relationships in the industry and the community.

Let’s talk about the charges on utility bills. What are they?

Well over half the cost in a customer’s bill is actually the energy they use, that we purchase for them and pass straight through. Having said that, we own anywhere between 30 and 40 percent of the charges on the bill, which are costs we incur to deliver the power or the gas. A big part of that 30 to 40 percent are the millions of dollars - actually, hundreds of millions of dollars - each year that National Grid puts into our infrastructure.

Does National Grid try to contain those costs?

That’s what we do have control over. So a couple of things we are doing on that end: We are going through a cost-cutting and reorganization process. We are hoping to reduce our costs by some $200 million.

National Grid expects to spend $247 million on energy-efficiency programs this year. Talk about efforts to get customers to save energy.

The cheapest kilowatt hour that you can ever buy is the one you don’t use. There’s a huge role that we can play in helping customers reduce their costs.

Boston’s NStar and Connecticut-based Northeast Utilities are hoping to merge. What could that mean for ratepayers?

Although the proposed merger will change the shape of utilities in Massachusetts, there really won’t be a direct impact on National Grid customers. Stepping away from that, the benefit for the industry is clear for their merger to go through. The industry continues to be too fragmented and we need to find ways to consolidate businesses together, so we can reduce back-office costs and ultimately provide a better result to customers.