EXHIBIT 23.6
 
                   CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS
 
  We have issued our reports dated January 14, 1998, accompanying the
consolidated financial statements and schedule incorporated by reference and
included in the Annual Report of Colonial Gas Company and subsidiaries on Form
10-K for the year ended December 31, 1997. We hereby consent to the
incorporation by reference of said reports in the Registration Statement and
Joint Proxy Statement/Prospectus on Form S-4, and to the use of our name as it
appears under the caption "Experts."
 
                                          Grant Thornton LLP
                                          /s/ Grant Thornton LLP
 
Boston, Massachusetts
December 16, 1998