Nat Grid

Robert O'Brien

Gas utility in NY,MA and RI

Robert O'Brien

Nat Grid show

Energy show in Huntington yesterday was excellent.Very well attended and got to see Dan H. talk about ISH! Mad Dog,Ron Jr and Mark Hunt were in attendance as well

Rich Kontny_3

What exactly is Nat Grid

I have seen this mentioned but do not understand what it is???

bob young

SAME OUTFIT, NEW NAME---AGAIN

BKLYN UNION GAS WITH A NEW NAME BUT MUCH MORE VICIOUS.

Mark Custis

they all

take there..............

Unknown

Curious,,,

As much as I like Dan,,, is this similar to to the Direct Energy- Enbridge Gas takeover here in Canada?
Although they maintain they are two separate entities, anyone with any intelligence knows otherwise.

Dave

Robert O'Brien

I

don't think many people like monopolies,but it's a fact of life.It was a good show,very well attended and I'm glad I got a chance to see Dan's presentation and I hope he charged them a lot!! It was worth it!

bob young

keyscum or nat. grid

it is a giant monopoly that cut the throat of every lic. plumbing contractor in n.y.c. & the five boroughs.it is impossible for a small contractor to compete with them & they bought the plumbing licenses of a few chumps to try to make their scam look legal. and pulled it off.

Rich Kontny_3

Subsidized competition?

Do they install gas appliances, piping and do service work in direct competition to independent contractors??? If so then I would cry foul as that is competition subsidized by gas consumers.We have been fighting this battle for years.

Unknown

Yes Rich,

They do!(up here anyway),,,
Many lobbied the government on the fairness issue, then Enbridge sold the larger company percentage to Direct which found them a loophole in the deal as they are supposed to be a Government regulated utility.
Unknowing people call Enbridge for service,,,and guess who shows up at their door!
But they still maintain they are separate entities.
Ya right,,,,,,,perhaps on paper.

Dave

Baltimore/Maine Doug_8

This type of activity

is part of the bailout plans for CEOs and execs of energy companies. Ya get stiffed twice.

DanHolohan

I had a great time.

There were more than 900 contractors there and I got to hang out with so many old friends. Had a drink with Mark Hunt, Ron Jr., Mad Dog and Noel Kelly afterwards. Noel, thanks for treating!

Good times and lots of positive energy.

Mark Hunt_6

HEAR HEAR

Thanks Noel!

Great seeing all of you!!!

Mark H

Rich Kontny_3

This can't be all bad

If 900 contractors were at this show. The ones who went need to point out the advantages. We have heard a great deal of negatives. What does the independent contractor have to gain by attending????

DanHolohan

I'd say, and not necessarily in this order

Education, rebates, networking, fellowship, laughter, good food, lots of beer and wine.

It's always good when everyone gets together.

Robert O'Brien

I am a contractor

and I think that is the correct order!

bob young

gas service competition ---not

I WONDER if they mentioned their parts protection plan where they destroyed the jobbing business for the small independent . if it was not subsidized by the utility gas revenues it would be out of business the first week. what they charge for a service call does not even pay for the material. try competing with that.their greed is unreal.

Noel Kelly_3

Thanks guys. I really enjoyed the show. The fact that so many showed up reflects the optimism of this industry and that to stay ahead you have to keep learning. To paraphrase Darwin - adapt or die!

Robert O'Brien

Bob

I dislike utilities as much as anyone, but why waste time on things you can't change? Their "service' is very easy to compete with.Last year Newsday had an article about the 3-4 day response time of NatGrid,not hard to beat that,is it?

bob young

Robert

i have a nyc plumbing lic. so i have quite a few other options when it comes to whacking out a living. but i do not like what bklyn union did to part of my jobbing business. like i said , they are cut throat ****.i could elaborate but i will not bother. i do fine without them & actually think oil is better. i got enough grief with the building dept. i don't need the gas company telling me how i should do things.

Rich Kontny_3

WE Energy here in Milwaukee

Took over the waterworks of several small suburbs and wanted to contract for others. This of course took a great deal of work away from water and sewer contractors.

This Nat Grid sounds like it is stepping on toes. They most likely will go on because they can. This sounds way to familiar and I would guess that it will continue until challenged.

Some will fall in the category of enablers while others will suffer. If I am understanding this properly then this is once again a case of a utility branching out with unfair subsidies. How can this be fair competition.

Reminds me of John Hall's battles with Detroit Edison.

joel_19

A/C!!!!

n grid is now offering A/C install in mass clearly subsidised by rate payers which is illegal but they get away with it because no one can afford to fight them. Even if you win they just change their name and start all over. No use getting upset over something you can't controll just gotta find away around it.

Unknown

I had a real good time

It's unreal how many booths had high efficiency and solar products . The market is indeed changing to green .

And the best part was catching up with you , Bob . And having a few drinks with my ol' buddies Dan , Mad Dog Matt , Mark Hunt , and meeting Noel Kelly for the 1st time . I love talking shop over a few beers . Right where alot of the world's problems are solved .................. on a barstool

Robert O'Brien

How come?

No one told me about the after party?

Unknown

Because you

beat feet before it was even an idea

The bar is always the last stop after a tradeshow with these boys

DanHolohan

TONY

You've twice crossed over into libel and I won't allow that on my site. Stop it.

Erich_3

National Grid Facts

National Grid is an investor owned energy company that employs 17,000 workers in the U.S. They are involved with gas and electricity in numerous Northeastern states. They are originally a British company. While it is true that they subsidize various parts of their business, this is true for almost any public utility. It is smart business operation on their part and benefits the customers. An example might be paying a customer to use energy efficient appliances or bulbs. Service contracts are often looked upon as being subsidized. The same claim can be made for oil service contracts. The companies can often make money on these contracts because they have such a large customer base and because they can make money on the total number of contracts rather than on each individual contract. This large base is what allows them in times of storms and emergencies to quickly repair the system. Can you imagine if they told customers that we will not repair the system until each customer pays for their own repair? While it may be easy to complain about how the company operates, one needs to understand the complete picture.

Rich Kontny_3

Unfair Competition

To the small independent contractor no matter how you try to justify it. Too large to fight seems to be the consensus here.

bob young

americanbadass

curious why a plumber would take the side of an unscrupulous outfit like national grid. dealing with them is one thing [ for a plumber they are a necessary evil & the only game in town ] but buying into their rhetoric & believing they are morally correct is ludicrous.maybe you are a brainwashed employee or shareholder or actually not aware of what goes on in the real world.