National Grid Makes $250,000 Donation for Hurricane Irene Relief to American Red Cross on Long Island

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National Grid presents $250,000 check to the American Red Cross on Long Island (see details in body of release)

HICKSVILLE, NY (09/02/2011)(readMedia)-- National Grid officials presented the American Red Cross on Long Island with a donation of $250,000 to assist area residents impacted by Hurricane Irene in recovering from this historic event. Charitable donations by National Grid to chapters of the American Red Cross and United Way in its northeast U.S. services areas will total $1 million to help residents most severely impacted to get back on their feet as quickly as possible. The company has also pledged to match dollar-for-dollar employee donations made to either of these organizations for hurricane relief.

The American Red Cross operates the largest and busiest disaster-response program in the nation, providing assistance, compassion and comfort to those affected by emergencies – home fires, building collapses, floods and more – each year.

The American Red Cross on Long Island is partnering with National Grid to help the community recover from Hurricane Irene by providing cots and other support for off-island utility crews assisting with restoring electricity to Long Island. Hotel space is limited for the Labor Day weekend, off-island crews will be staying at Long Island local schools and colleges.

"Thousands of utility crews have been working around the clock to restore power to millions of customers up and down the east coast," said John Bruckner, president of National Grid Transmission and Distribution Services on Long Island. "The impacts of Irene have gone well beyond the power loss in many of the communities we live and work in. The people whose homes and businesses have been devastated are our neighbors, our friends, our relatives, and in many cases, our own employees – we wanted to do more. We are honored to be able to support the Red Cross on Long Island's disaster relief efforts."

Irene's damaging winds, torrential rains and flooding created the most outages on Long Island in 25 years. Irene's historic winds extended outward as much as 90 miles from the center, and tropical storm-force winds extended outward as much as 290 miles. In addition, Irene dropped record amounts of rain on many areas over an extended period of time late Saturday and Sunday.

"On behalf of the people who will be helped because of this donation, we thank National Grid," said John Miller, CEO of American Red Cross, Long Island Chapter. "We truly appreciate the generosity they have shown. Donations like these allow us to continue our important work in every community and make a great difference in the lives of people affected by disaster."

"National Grid is a vital Red Cross partner that offers us support throughout the year," said Vikki Pryor, CEO of American Red Cross, Greater New York Region. "We work side by side to keep our communities safe and prepared."

NOTE TO EDITORS - CAPTION DETAILS: Tom King, president of National Grid in the US (left) and John Bruckner, president of National Grid Transmission and Distribution Services on Long Island (right) present a check to John Miller, CEO American Red Cross on Long Island and Vikki Pryor, CEO American Red Cross in Greater New York.

National Grid is an international energy delivery company. In the U.S., National Grid delivers electricity to approximately 3.3 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island, and manages the electricity network on Long Island under an agreement with the Long Island Power Authority (LIPA). It is the largest distributor of natural gas in the northeastern U.S., serving approximately 3.4 million customers in Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and Rhode Island. National Grid also owns over 4,000 megawatts of contracted electricity generation that provides power to over one million LIPA customers.

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