Exhibit 31.1

                              CERTIFICATION OF THE

                      CHAIRMAN AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER

                             PURSUANT TO SECTION 302

                        OF THE SARBANES-OXLEY ACT OF 2002



            I, Robert B. Catell, certify that:

1.   I have  reviewed  this  Quarterly  Report on Form 10-Q for the period ended
     March 31, 2005 of KeySpan Corporation;

2.   Based on my  knowledge,  this  annual  report  does not  contain any untrue
     statement of a material fact or omit to state a material fact  necessary to
     make the statements  made, in light of the  circumstances  under which such
     statements  were made, not misleading with respect to the period covered by
     this annual report;

3.   Based on my  knowledge,  the  financial  statements,  and  other  financial
     information included in this annual report,  fairly present in all material
     respects the financial  condition,  results of operations and cash flows of
     the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this annual report;

4.   The  registrant's  other  certifying  officer  and  I are  responsible  for
     establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined
     in Exchange Act Rules  13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e))  and internal  control over
     financial  reporting  (as  defined  in  Exchange  Act Rules  13a-15(f)  and
     15d-15(f)) for the registrant and have:

     a)  Designed  such  disclosure  controls  and  procedures,  or caused  such
     disclosure controls and procedures to be designed under our supervision, to
     ensure that material information relating to the registrant,  including its
     consolidated  subsidiaries,  is made  known to us by  others  within  those
     entities,  particularly  during the period in which this  annual  report is
     being prepared;

     b) Designed such internal control over financial reporting,  or caused such
     internal  control  over  financial  reporting  to  be  designed  under  our
     supervision,  to provide reasonable  assurance regarding the reliability of
     financial  reporting  and  the  preparation  of  financial  statements  for
     external  purposes  in  accordance  with  generally   accepted   accounting
     principals;

     c) Evaluated the effectiveness of the registrant's  disclosure controls and
     procedures  and  presented  in  this  report  our  conclusions   about  the
     effectiveness of the disclosure  controls and procedures,  as of the end of
     the period covered by this report based on such evaluation; and

     d) Disclosed in this report any change in the registrant's internal control
     over financial  reporting that occurred during the registrant's most recent
     fiscal  quarter (the  registrant's  fourth fiscal quarter in the case of an
     annual report) that has  materially  affected,  or is reasonably  likely to
     materially  affect,  the  registrant's   internal  control  over  financial
     reporting; and

5.   The registrant's  other certifying  officer and I have disclosed,  based on
     our most recent evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to
     the registrant's auditors and the audit committee of the registrant's board
     of directors (or persons performing the equivalent functions):

     a) All significant  deficiencies  and material  weaknesses in the design or
     operation of internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably
     likely to adversely  affect the  registrant's  ability to record,  process,
     summarize and report financial information; and

     b) Any fraud,  whether or not material,  that involves  management or other
     employees who have a significant role in the registrant's  internal control
     over financial reporting.


Date:     April 29, 2005


                                                /s/ Robert B. Catell
                                                  Robert B. Catell
                                            Chairman of the Board of Directors
                                            and Chief Executive Officer