Focusing on Localized Approach: PPL CEO Sorgi on Acquiring National Grid’s RI Utility Business
Focusing on Localized Approach: PPL CEO Sorgi on Acquiring National Grid’s RI Utility Business
"We’re a 100-year-old company — we just celebrated our 100th year anniversary last year," said Sorgi. "We’re headquartered in Allentown, Pennsylvania — we have utilities in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, and the United Kingdom. Our headquarters for our PA utility is also here Allentown, our headquarters for our operations in Kentucky are in Louisville."
"I would say the announcement last week with National Grid was really about a strategic repositioning for our company — moving away from the international side of the business and becoming a fully U.S. focused energy company," he continued. "And I couldn’t be more excited about moving up into Rhode Island and serving the customers of Rhode Island and the more I got to know the business, the more fond of it I have become."
From UK Back to U.S. Control
"I would just like to say that we have a very customer-focused approach in terms of our operations — we pride ourselves on delivering industry-leading reliability and customer satisfaction for our customers," said Sorgi. "Our operating model really puts technology and innovation to work for those that we serve. We’re always looking for opportunities to work smarter, to be more efficient and then reinvest those savings into the network so that we keep the bills affordable for our customers."
"In addition to the use of technology and in automating our grid, I’ll tell you we have one of the most advanced grids in the country with our Pennsylvania utility --- but also we’re replacing the older infrastructure," said Sorgi. "So the wires and the poles, we don’t replace that in kind, we replace with stronger more durable materials that really enables the network to withstand severe weather much better than what has historically been the case, and when that weather does strike you, know we are committed to getting power back and the natural gas back to our customers as quickly as we possibly can."
Local Focus
"The way we operate our utilities is a fairly localized approach — so the people that will be delivering the service both from an operations and customer perspective will be in the state and we believe that that is incredibly important that we have a presence in the jurisdiction that we’re serving and that our leaders are directly accessible to those that we serve," he said.
When asked if the company would rebrand the company back to its original name -- Narragansett Electric -- Sorgi said they would take a look at it. He also promised that the managers of the Rhode Island operation would be located in the state.