London, June 25, 2026, 10:07 BST
- The stock added 1.17% to close at 1,255.5 pence, up 2.45% over two sessions.
- Shares are up 30 pence since the close on Tuesday, putting about £1.49 billion on the company’s market cap.
- Smart Path Connect is expected to deliver $438 million in yearly customer benefits, almost 80% of National Grid’s stated $550 million capital share.
- Federal recovery rules mean that finishing a project lowers delivery risk more than it creates new earnings.
National Grid plc (LON:NG) was up 1.17% at 1,255.5 pence as of 1002 BST on Thursday. The FTSE 100 was 0.31% higher. Shares climbed 1.26% Wednesday.
Shares climbed 2.45% from Tuesday’s close, or 30 pence higher. With 4.98 billion shares out, that move added around £1.49 billion to National Grid’s market cap. Gains stuck as the UK 10-year gilt yield ticked up 1.8 basis points to 4.7036%.
National Grid New York President Sally Librera said Wednesday in a post that Smart Path Connect is now operating. The 100-mile line will deliver one gigawatt of renewable power through New York and is projected to save customers $438 million a year.
The yearly benefit works out to 79.6% of the $550 million capital share National Grid reported in 2024. That percentage isn’t an investment return. New York calls the $438 million annual figure customer and congestion savings from the full joint project, not income for National Grid.
Cash flow at completion is set to change by less than the headline savings figure. National Grid’s Niagara Mohawk unit got approval from federal regulators to roll 100% of prudent construction work in progress into its rate base starting April 1, 2023. The filing, which regulators partly signed off on, used Niagara Mohawk’s current 10.3% transmission ROE and a project formula rate.
Completion doesn’t reset cost recovery; it just takes construction and schedule risk out. In May, National Grid told shareholders that Smart Path Connect was energised on time and within budget.
National Grid is looking at a next five-year capital spend of at least £70 billion—roughly 12% higher than its current market cap of £62.47 billion. The group is aiming for asset growth of about 10% a year, while underlying earnings per share should rise 8% to 10% a year. CEO Zoë Yujnovich described it as the “largest investment programme in our history”. National Grid
National Grid finished the 55-mile southern section of the project and built a substation at Austin Road. In total, the project added four substations and upgraded 10. Librera said the line would deliver renewable energy “directly to the businesses and communities that need it most.” Governor Kathy Hochul
New York Power Authority CEO Justin Driscoll said the state is adding one gigawatt of capacity to the grid. System reliability is “coming under tremendous pressure” as demand grows, New York Independent System Operator CEO Rich Dewey said. Spectrum Local News
National Grid is trading at 1,255.5 pence, still 12.1% under its 52-week high. The median price target from 14 analysts tracked by LSEG is 1,388.5 pence, which is 10.6% higher than where the shares are now. Price targets in the group go from 1,060 to 1,500 pence.
