National Grid's Stavropoulos Elected American Gas Association First Vice Chairman

WALTHAM, MA (10/13/2010)(readMedia)-- The Board of Directors of the American Gas Association has elected Nick Stavropoulos, National Grid's executive vice president and chief operating officer of U.S. Gas Distribution as First Vice Chairman for the coming year. The election was announced today at the AGA Board meeting in Chicago, Illinois.

"This is well-deserved recognition of a person who has been a leader in the natural gas industry in the United States for more than a quarter century," said Steven Holliday, chief executive of National Grid. "Nick's intellect, energy and dedication make him the perfect selection to help represent so many of the country's natural gas distribution companies and their tens of millions of customers."

Stavropoulos was named to his current position at National Grid after the company's acquisition of KeySpan in 2007. He began his career in the natural gas industry in 1979 with Colonial Gas Company and served in a number of management positions. In 1999 he was elected senior vice president, Marketing & Gas Resources of Eastern Enterprises, which had acquired Colonial Gas. Following KeySpan's acquisition of Eastern Enterprises in 2000, Mr. Stavropoulos became senior vice president of New England Sales & Marketing. In 2002, he was promoted to executive vice president and head of KeySpan New England Gas Operations, and in 2004, he was elected to president of KeySpan's US Gas Operations.

He serves on the Board of The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, Enterprise Bank & Trust Company, The United Way of Massachusetts, Dynamics Research Corporation; and is a Trustee of Bentley University.

Stavropoulos graduated from Bentley University in 1979 with a BS in Accounting. He earned his MBA in Finance from Babson College.

About National Grid

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.

About AGA

The American Gas Association, founded in 1918, represents 195 local energy companies that deliver clean natural gas throughout the United States. There are more than 70 million residential, commercial and industrial natural gas customers in the U.S., of which 91 percent - more than 64 million customers - receive their gas from AGA members. Today, natural gas meets almost one-fourth of the United States' energy needs.

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