New president for National Grid Rhode Island

The man who temporarily stepped in for Tim Horan, the president of National Grid Rhode Island, during the natural gas outage in Newport and Middletown has been named Horan's successor.

National Grid announced Tuesday that Terry Sobolewski, who is currently the chief customer officer and senior vice president at National Grid, will succeed Horan, who will assume another position in the company, with a focus on safety, health and the environment for the United States and the United Kingdom, the company said in a statement.

Horan collapsed during a news conference during the second night of the gas outage that affected about 7,000 customers and was treated at Rhode Island Hospital and released that night. Sobolewski assumed Horan's responsibilities on an interim basis.

National Grid has about 270,000 gas customers and almost 500,000 electric customers in Rhode Island, the statement said.

“Our Rhode Island customers expect us to flawlessly deliver the core services they rely on every day and they expect solutions to help them manage their energy needs going forward,” Sobolewski said. “There are new challenges facing our industry every day, and this is an exciting time to demonstrate our commitment to Rhode Island’s clean energy transition.”

Before joining National Grid in 2011, Sobolewski worked for SunPower Corp. and General Electric. He has served in various capacities at National Grid and has been its chief customer officer since October 2015, according to his LinkedIn profile.

“Serving our customers alongside the 950 employees we have in Rhode Island has been one of the great honors of my career,” said Horan, who has been president of National Grid Rhode Island for eight years. “We have made significant strides during my tenure — from increasing our investments in Rhode Island’s energy infrastructure to delivering more support for our most vulnerable customers and moving Rhode Island forward towards its clean energy goals — I’m proud to have been a part of this team and all we’ve accomplished together.”

Sobolewski will begin transitioning into his new role next month, according to the statement.