Irene Hits National Grid; Lasting Impact Unlikely

Hurricane Irene dealt an expensive blow to U.S. East Coast utility providers, such as National Grid, but losses can be recovered

Travis Miller 31 August, 2011 | 11:54AM
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Based on our conversations with U.S. utility management teams this week, we estimate utilities in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic regions of the U.S. could face restoration costs near $1 billion from Hurricane Irene.

National Grid (NG.), with one of the largest customer bases in the Northeast, had more than 1.5 million customers without power during the height of the storm across its four-state territory. Repairs had restored power to about 900,000 customers as of Aug. 30. Costs will probably top £61 million. After tax, that equates to about £0.01 per share, or about 2% of our projected fiscal 2012 earnings. That impact should be fully offset when National Grid recovers those expenses in future quarters.

Find out how Irene will impact our fair value estimate for National Grid here.

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Securities Mentioned in Article

Security NamePriceChange (%)Morningstar
Rating
National Grid PLC987.20 GBX1.13Rating

About Author

Travis Miller  is the director of utilities sector securities research at Morningstar.

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