The DPU declined to comment on Cochrane’s Emera relationship, and said in a statement, “FTI Consulting addressed any potential conflict of interest in a written response issued to the department.” Spokesman Robert Kievra, in a statement, said, “The company does not believe the selection of FTI presents a credible conflict of interest and their proposal was reviewed as part of the regulatory process and approved.” National Grid executives also declined to be interviewed. (On Thursday, a front page story in The New York Times detailed new revelations about the extent of FTI's influence campaigns on behalf of the fossil fuel industry.)
National grid careers free#
National Grid has a contract to buy gas from Emera through 2024, according to records filed with the New York Department of Public Services.Ĭochrane disclosed to Massachusetts DPU that since leaving National Grid, he has worked on a regulatory report for the company in New York and also provided it free consulting.įTI declined to comment for this story, saying the firm does not discuss clients. subsidiary of a Canadian energy company, according to proposal documents.
Both Cochrane and Hassett declined to comment.Ĭochrane has additional ties to National Grid. For instance, he serves on the board of Emera Energy Services, the U.S. However, WBUR found at least 12 current senior management employees who worked at National Grid when the two men did. “There is no relationship with the current management of National Grid that exists to interfere with the process that we would undertake to conduct the management audit,” Cochrane wrote on behalf of FTI in the May 17 response. The AG’s office stated its position plainly in a May 12 letter to state regulators: “FTI should be removed from consideration in order to eliminate any question of bias or the appearance of a conflict of interest.” The letter also said that neither National Grid nor FTI were upfront about their prior relationship.Ĭochrane, in a written response to the DPU on the issues raised by the AG’s office, denied there was a conflict of interest, saying neither he nor Hassett had worked for National Grid in over five years. Company suspends disconnections amid coronavirus.Gas workers not paid for months during 2018 labor battle.180,000 customers lost power for days during March 2018 winter storm.Rate hike proposal of $4.07 per month for customers.His FTI colleague, Colin Hassett, was a National Grid project manager until 2015. He left in 2013 and now leads a Power & Utilities practice for FTI in Boston. The audit would investigate the company’s strategic planning and suspected management problems “ to the highest levels of the organization.”įTI Consulting’s John Cochrane previously had a long and high-level career with National Grid USA. He was chief financial officer and treasurer, in charge of finance and mergers, and later headed global business development, overseeing $27 billion in acquisitions, according to his biography in the proposal. "In order to have confidence that it truly is an independent audit, it helps to have people who didn't work for the company." Rebecca Tepper, attorney general's office “In order to have confidence that it truly is an independent audit, it helps to have people who didn't work for the company,” said Rebecca Tepper, chief of the AG’s Energy and Telecommunications Division.ĭPU ordered the audit after National Grid sought an electric rate hike back in 2018. The proposed rate increase came just months after 186,000 of the company’s 1.3 million electric customers in the state went without power for multiple days in a winter storm, and after a labor battle in which National Grid locked out gas workers without pay or benefits. Regulators raised concerns about the London-based utility giant’s failure to meet deadlines on solar and other projects, as well as a lack of adequate technology planning. Attorney General Maura Healey’s office, representing consumers, said FTI lacked experience for the job and appeared to have a conflict of interest because two former National Grid employees - one formerly a high-ranking executive - would be key players in the audit.Įven so, the DPU in May approved National Grid’s contract with FTI. The winning bid, for nearly $1 million, was submitted by FTI Consulting and was at least 50% higher than rival proposals. But critics are calling into question the independence of the audit, which is being led by former National Grid employees over objections by the attorney general's office. Last fall, the state Department of Public Utilities was concerned enough about management issues at National Grid to order a broad audit of the company.