CORRECTING and REPLACING NU and NSTAR Reach Comprehensive Merger-Related Agreement with Connecticut AG and OCC
Utilities agree to rate benefits for customers, enhanced
environmental commitments and sustained community support
Please replace the release with the following corrected version, adding
executive titles to second and third graphs.
The corrected release reads:
NU AND NSTAR REACH COMPREHENSIVE MERGER-RELATED AGREEMENT WITH
CONNECTICUT AG AND OCC
Utilities agree to rate benefits for customers, enhanced
environmental commitments and sustained community support
Northeast Utilities (NYSE: NU) and NSTAR (NYSE: NST) have reached a
comprehensive merger-related agreement with the Connecticut Attorney
General and the Office of Consumer Counsel (OCC) that will guarantee
substantial customer and environmental benefits.
'We are pleased to have reached this settlement agreement with the
Attorney General and the Office of Consumer Counsel,? said Charles W.
Shivery, NU′s chairman, president and chief executive officer. 'The
agreement will provide constructive and tangible benefits for
Connecticut customers and communities.?
'With today′s announcement we move one step closer to completing this
important merger,? noted Thomas J. May, NSTAR′s chairman, president and
chief executive officer. 'The merger will benefit all of our customers
by creating a stronger company that is expected to provide higher
service levels and lower costs over the long term.?
The settlement agreement calls for a one-time, $25 million rate credit
and the freezing of base distribution rates until December 1, 2014, for
customers of The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P). It also
calls for the investment of another $15 million to be set aside to fund
energy efficiency programs for low-income customers and projects
associated with the development of electric vehicle infrastructure,
microgrids and renewable energy.
CL&P will submit to Connecticut′s Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
(PURA) a multi-year plan and cost-recovery mechanism for a $300 million
investment in additional resiliency as part of its ongoing effort to
improve system performance. CL&P will also forgo recovery of $40 million
of the approximately $260 million of costs it incurred as a result of
the two major storms of 2011, and it will defer storm recovery until
after the company′s next rate case. Both resiliency spending and storm
cost recovery will be subject to review and approval by PURA.
For no less than seven years, NU agreed to maintain principal Board and
Executive offices and functions in Hartford, Conn. NU also agreed that
the headquarters of CL&P, Yankee Gas and NU′s transmission business, as
well as Call Center operations, would remain in Connecticut for the same
period. Additionally, CL&P, Yankee Gas and the Northeast Utilities
Foundation will maintain their current levels of funding for charitable
and community commitments for that same period.
Under the agreement, within 12 months of the merger close, NU will
establish an irrevocable preservation land trust and will work with
Connecticut′s Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to
explore opportunities to expand public access to NU land for passive
recreation where such use is appropriate and consistent with the
company′s business activities. A total of 981 acres would be transferred
into the trust including the following properties in Connecticut: King′s
Island in Enfield/Suffield; Skiff Mountain in Sharon; Hanover Road in
Newtown; and Bartlett Road in Waterford.
In a unique aspect of the agreement, CL&P will also work with local
community colleges to develop a lineworker apprentice program.
The agreement must be approved by the Connecticut PURA. NU and NSTAR
have requested PURA′s approval by April 2, 2012.
Northeast Utilities (NYSE: NU), a Fortune 500 and Standard & Poor′s 500
energy company based in Connecticut, operates New England′s largest
energy delivery system. NU is committed to safety, reliability,
environmental leadership and stewardship, and expanding energy options
for its more than 2 million electricity and natural gas customers. For
more information on Northeast Utilities and its subsidiaries, visit the
NU family of Web sites at www.nu.com.
NSTAR is the largest Massachusetts-based, investor-owned electric and
gas utility. The company transmits and delivers electricity and natural
gas to 1.4 million customers in Eastern and Central Massachusetts,
including more than one million electric customers in 81 communities and
300,000 gas customers in 51 communities. For more information, visit www.nstar.com.
Photos/Multimedia ?Gallery Available: http://www.businesswire.com/cgi-bin/mmg.cgi?eid=50202914&lang=en
Northeast Utilities
Al Lara, 860-728-4616
albert.lara@nu.com
or
NSTAR
Caroline
Pretyman, 617-424-2460
caroline.pretyman@nstar.com