Niagara Mohawk changing name to National Grid

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK - Say goodbye to the Niagara Mohawk name. The venerable upstate utility is now calling itself National Grid.

The Syracuse-based utility has changed its name to National Grid as part of an effort by its British owner to unify all off its U.S. electric and natural gas companies under the National Grid name, said Stephen F. Brady, a company spokesman in Buffalo.

The name change first was announced in late June, although company officials at that time did not give a timetable for making the switch.

All of National Grid's U.S. operations, including Massachusetts Electric, Narragansett Electric, Granite State Electric and Nantucket Electric, now will be known as National Grid.

Other than the new name, which now will start showing up on the company's trucks and stationary, consumers shouldn't notice any other changes, beyond having to make their bill payment checks out to National Grid, instead of Niagara Mohawk.

While National Grid officials said the switch will help the British power distribution company build up its name as a global energy and wireless networks provider, it also means the end of a Niagara Mohawk brand that has been a mainstay in upstate New York for more than half a century.

The Niagara Mohawk name dates to 1950, when companies from around the state were unified under it. The name also was synonymous with the downtown Electric Building that the company long had used as its Western Region headquarters until it was sold more than a year ago.

Redesigned utility bills that include the company's new logo will begin appearing in November. The company also will be putting the new logo on all of its vehicles that are expected to remain in use for more than two years and all employees will be issued new identification cards with the National Grid name.