Letter: National Grid’s biggest problem is credibility

Posted 11/22/21

To the editor:

Kudos to the Middletown Town Council for telling it like it is regarding National Grid and Old Mill Lane. 

Well over 25 years ago, the gas company held a public dog and pony …

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Letter: National Grid’s biggest problem is credibility

Posted

To the editor:

Kudos to the Middletown Town Council for telling it like it is regarding National Grid and Old Mill Lane. 

Well over 25 years ago, the gas company held a public dog and pony show about new piping to Aquidneck Island. That proposal died a quiet death. How old is that pipe? Will its age be the next problem? 

Then we learned of the peaking station at Coddington Cove on the Navy Base which was quietly deactivated. Next, National Grid ran out of gas because of equipment and operation failure. For good measure, they threw in a cold snap. For record purposes, that was hardly a deep freeze. You don’t have to memorize the Old Farmer’s Almanac to see through that smoke screen. Cold weather on Aquidneck Island is when the bays, ponds and rivers freeze over. 

They want us to believe that their supplier, Algonquin, dropped the ball but they do not talk about the required due diligence to insure their supplier was reliable. National Grid still is a taking on new customers. The want to “give people a choice.” I wonder if it has anything to do with profit. 

The Navy — you can see their attractive solar farm at Melville — lured the Grid with the peaking station. Now they say bye, bye. The excuses, at least as published (security and 24-hour access) don’t stand the test of reasonableness. 

The Grid has got problems on Aquidneck Island. What they fail to realize is that the biggest one is credibility. The legislature was suppose to hold hearings on this matter. We are waiting. Several years ago, RIDOT proposed tolls on the Sakonnet River Bridge. Eventually and reluctantly, they held a public hearing. Perspectives change when you can no longer hide behind Zoom or the hearings are not in Warwick, but locally.

Philip Driscoll

169 Immokolee Drive

Portsmouth

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