UPDATE: All settlement checks will
expire on April 27, 2024, and any unclaimed funds will be
distributed to the Cy Pres
beneficiary National Consumer Law Center.
If you are a person residing in the United States who, from March 9, 2011 until October 29, 2021, received a telephone call on a cellular telephone using a prerecorded or artificial voice from National Grid.
You Could Get Benefits from a Class Action Settlement. Please see the Notice available here for additional details.
“National Grid” includes: In New York 1) KeySpan Gas East Corporation, 2) The Brooklyn Union Gas Company, 3) Niagara Mohawk Power Corporation; in Massachusetts as 1) Boston Gas Company, Colonial Gas Company (now part of Boston Gas), 2) Massachusetts Electric Company, 3) Nantucket Electric Company; and in Rhode Island as 1) The Narragansett Electric Company.
Important Dates
May 22, 2022 — Exclusion Deadline
May 22, 2022 — Objection Deadline
May 22, 2022 — Claims Filing Deadline
June 24, 2022 at 9:30 a.m. — Final Approval Hearing
- A proposed Settlement has been reached in a class action lawsuit involving certain claims that National Grid and its debt collectors made calls with automated dialers and/or prerecorded or artificial voice messages to cellular telephones related to: (1) the payment or status of a current or past National Grid Utility Account or bill; (2) an “important matter” concerning a current or past National Grid Utility Account or bill; (3) a disconnect notice concerning a current or past National Grid Utility Account; (4) an invitation from National Grid to attend a Customer Assistance Expo or to meet with or speak to the National Grid Consumer Advocacy Group, National Grid Consumer Advocate, or National Grid Credit Department; or (5) the availability of a government assistance program, such as the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP), to assist with payments to National Grid, all without the prior express consent of the persons called. Plaintiffs allege that this conduct violates the federal Telephone Consumer Protection Act. National Grid denies those allegations and disputes that it did anything wrong.
- You may be included in the Settlement Class if you are a person residing in the United States who, from March 9, 2011 until October 29, 2021, received a telephone call on a cellular telephone using a prerecorded or artificial voice from National Grid related to any one of the five reasons outlined above.
- If the Settlement is approved and becomes final, National Grid will pay thirty-eight million five-hundred thousand dollars ($38,500,000.00) into a settlement fund. This money will be used to: (1) make settlement payments to Settlement Class Members, (2) pay the costs of distributing notice and settlement payment checks to Settlement Class Members and other costs of administering the Settlement; and (3) pay court-awarded attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses of the attorneys appointed by the Court to represent the Class (“Class Counsel”) and any service awards granted to the Plaintiffs.
- The notice provides only a summary of the terms of the Important Documents Page of this website. Capitalized terms in the notice have a specific, defined meaning. If the meaning of a capitalized term is not included in the notice, please refer to the Settlement Agreement for the meaning.
| YOUR LEGAL RIGHTS AND OPTIONS IN THIS LAWSUIT: | |
|---|---|
SUBMIT A CLAIM |
This is the only way to receive benefits under the Settlement.
If you are a member of the Settlement Class, you have a right to complete a Claim Form to share in the settlement proceeds paid by National Grid to settle the Lawsuit. A Claim Form can be completed online by clicking HERE or can obtain a paper form on the Important Documents page of this website. All claim forms must be submitted online or postmarked, if mailed, no later than May 22, 2022. If you are a Settlement Class member and do not ask to exclude yourself from the Settlement, and if the Settlement is approved by the Court and becomes final, you give up your right to bring your own lawsuit about the issues in this Lawsuit |
EXCLUDE YOURSELF |
You will not receive any benefits from the Settlement, but you will keep any rights you currently have to separately sue Defendants for the claims that are the subject of this lawsuit. The deadline to exclude yourself is May 22, 2022. |
OBJECT TO THE SETTLEMENT |
You may write to the Court explaining why you object to the Settlement. Any objection must be filed no later than May 22, 2022. |
GO TO THE HEARING |
You may ask to speak in Court about the Settlement. The Final Approval Hearing is scheduled for June 24, 2022 at 9:30 a.m.. |
DO NOTHING AT ALL |
If you do nothing and the Settlement becomes final, you will not be issued a Settlement payment. If you are a member of the Settlement Class and do not ask to exclude yourself from the Settlement, and if the Settlement is approved and becomes final, you will give up your right to bring your own lawsuit about the issues in this Lawsuit. |
These rights and options – and the deadlines to exercise them – are explained in the Notice.