Eversource 2003 Annual Report Download - page 15

Shareholder Value
NU is dedicated to providing value for our shareholders. To
that end, we have achieved above average dividend growth
in recent years, while maintaining a low dividend payout
ratio. In 2003 NU’s share price increased 33 percent, providing
above average industry returns. We offer a strong financial
profile and credit ratings, supporting our position as the
largest energy delivery company in New England and a leading
energy marketer in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic states.
Customer Care
For customers, we deliver reliable service at competitive prices
and ensure that energy is there – for today and tomorrow.
Several initiatives ensure our customer service is among the
best anywhere. A state-of-the-art Emergency Operations
Center serves as one of the country’s best information and
control facilities to immediately activate and mobilize for
storm restoration and emergency response. A new System
Operations Center centralizes our Connecticut crew dispatch
and speeds our response to customers. A Customer Services
Integration project is also under way to further enhance
customer service and business efficiency as we consolidate
call centers.
Employee Commitment
Employees are the backbone of NU. Our values reflect a firm
commitment to diversity and to a workplace that rewards
safety, innovation, teamwork and accountability. NU’s policies
and procedures support productive, motivated employees
focused on serving our customers. Testimony to the strength
of employment at NU is this fact: the average tenure of an
employee is nearly 17 years.
to maintain and upgrade our infrastructure. We strategically
invested $550 million in the region’s energy infrastructure in
2003, nearly all in our regulated businesses; we expect to invest
an additional $730 million in 2004. These investments will
improve service reliability and increase the system’s asset base.
To meet both advances in technology and customers’ growing
energy use, we must enhance the electric transmission system
by extending 345-kV lines into southwest Connecticut where
electric loads are growing at the fastest rate in the state. Siting
for the 21-mile Bethel/Norwalk transmission line was approved
in 2003 and construction is under way. We expect to complete
the line by the end of 2005. Together with the proposed
Middletown/Norwalk project and other system upgrades, these
projects will deliver critical service reliability to southwest
Connecticut and the rest of the New England grid.
Had the proposed 345-kV system upgrades been in place last
summer when we experienced the North American blackout,
we believe restoration times for our customers would have
been lessened. In less than one minute on August 14, 50 million
people were plunged into the largest electricity outage North
America has ever experienced. At NU, just over 300,000
customers were interrupted, some intentionally by grid
operators to help stabilize the system. Power was restored
to all our customers by the next evening, an unprecedented
accomplishment by the grid operators and many of
our employees.
From transmission of electricity over our highest capacity electric
lines, electricity must flow through our distribution system to
reach neighborhoods, homes and businesses. To help us maintain
and upgrade this distribution system, The Connecticut
Department of Public Utility Control’s (DPUC) rate case decision
at the end of 2003 approved a four-year, $900 million capital
investment program in Connecticut. We are also investing in
technology to create a “smart” electric delivery system. This
intelligent technology will help CL&P and WMECO continually
monitor the status and dynamics of the network and better
manage the distribution system to prevent outages before
they occur.
During 2003 we completed negotiations to purchase the
Connecticut Valley Electric Company’s assets which serve nearly
11,000 customers in the Claremont, New Hampshire, area. As
of January 1, 2004, these new PSNH customers benefit from a
10–15 percent rate reduction, and PSNH expects some $1.1 million
in annual earnings factoring in the return on regulatory assets.
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