National Grid Wins US Backing for DREAM Grid Upgrade as Storm Crews Restore 70,000 Customers

DOE selects National Grid's DREAM transmission initiative for funding; GMB members back pay deal; shares fall 3.8% over 30 days on rising bond yields.

Federal support for a transmission-modernization program has handed National Grid a fresh growth lever in the United States, even as the utility's shares continue to drift lower on bond-market headwinds.

The US Department of Energy selected the company's DREAM initiative for a funding program, the British network operator confirmed. The project's full name — Dynamic Rating Enhancement Advancements & Modernization — relies on advanced transmission technology to lift grid reliability and system efficiency while squeezing more capacity out of existing infrastructure. National Grid did not disclose the size of the award.

Storm Recovery Across New England and New York

The federal nod landed in the same week that National Grid's US crews were working through the aftermath of severe weather. By Sunday the operator had reconnected roughly 16,000 customers in Massachusetts, part of a broader restoration effort that has returned about 70,000 customers to the grid since the storm first hit.

Roughly 8,000 of those reconnections came through automated fault-location and network-switching technology, which allowed the utility to reroute power without dispatching crews to every outage. Field teams also fanned out across New York to clear weather-related faults in the Hudson Valley and replace damaged equipment in Delmar and Bethlehem. Additional fixes on Sunday covered a supply interruption in Scituate and line damage in Revere caused by a traffic accident.

Nantucket escaped the weekend without outages. National Grid had begun preparing for forecast wind gusts on Thursday, putting protective measures in place for its network infrastructure ahead of the storm.

UK Union Backs Pay Deal; Record Flexibility Tender Launched

On the labor front, the GMB union reported Friday that a majority of voting members approved the company's final pay offer for the 2026/27 period, with 63 percent of ballots cast in favor. The vote spanned several operating divisions, including National Grid Electricity Transmission, ESO, National Grid Ventures and administrative staff.

National Grid is pushing ahead with large-scale operational projects in its home market as well. On September 18, subsidiary National Grid Electricity Distribution opened a new round of long-term flexibility procurement covering more than 800 zones and total demand exceeding 2.8 terawatt-hours. The company pegged the associated market opportunity at up to GBP 4.6 million.

The tender introduces a local voltage-management service for the first time and ranks as the company's largest-ever high-voltage flexibility round, with 99 zones dedicated to that segment alone. Contracts are slated for January 2027, with delivery running from April 2027 through March 2028. To sharpen its strategy on decentralized grid balancing, the business also formed an industry-wide working group chaired by Cathy McClay, managing director of distribution network operations, in response to innovation requirements from regulator Ofgem and a sector task force.

Shares Slip as Gilt and Treasury Yields Bite

Despite the operational momentum, the stock has been under pressure. National Grid closed Friday at EUR 13.15, a modest 0.1 percent daily decline that leaves it down 3.8 percent over 30 days. Rising yields on UK gilts and US Treasuries have weighed on the entire sector, according to media reports, as fixed-income instruments once again compete with traditional dividend payers for investor capital.

Analysts, by contrast, remain constructive on the company's expansion. Bernstein resumed coverage on September 15 with an "Outperform" rating and a 1,310 pence price target, citing growth prospects and investment potential in regulated electricity and gas networks. Berenberg, however, trimmed its target to 1,070 pence from 1,150 pence about two weeks ago, pointing to the need to balance investment commitments, debt and shareholder returns amid regulatory uncertainty.

Whether the new US funding and upcoming stakeholder discussions in October can inject fresh momentum into the valuation will depend in part on where bond yields head next.