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BOWNE INTEGRATED TYPESETTING SYSTEM
CRC: 3681
Name: NATIONAL GRID
Date: 17-JUN-2008 03:10:51.35Operator: BNY99999TPhone: (212)924-5500Site: BOWNE OF NEW YORK
Y59930.SUB, DocName: EX-2.B.6.1, Doc: 6, Page: 105
Description: EXH 2(B).6.1
0/3709.00.00.00Y59930BNY
[E/O] EDGAR 2 *Y59930/709/3*
BOWNE INTEGRATED TYPESETTING SYSTEM
CRC: 3681
Name: NATIONAL GRID
Date: 17-JUN-2008 03:10:51.35Operator: BNY99999TPhone: (212)924-5500Site: BOWNE OF NEW YORK
Y59930.SUB, DocName: EX-2.B.6.1, Doc: 6, Page: 105
Description: EXH 2(B).6.1
0/3709.00.00.00Y59930BNY
[E/O] EDGAR 2 *Y59930/709/3*
recover environmental response costs over a ten year period, establishes a new weather normalization clause and allows for
the sharing of non-firm mar
g
ins (which is mar
g
in earned from interruptible customers with the ability to switch to alternative
fuels). The weather normalization clause is desi
g
ned to miti
g
ate the impact of weather volatility on customer billin
g
s, which
assists customers in payin
g
bills and stabilize the revenue stream. New En
g
land Gas Company defers the mar
g
in impact of
weather that is greater than two percent colder-than-normal and will recover the mar
g
in impact of weather that is
g
reater than
two percent warmer-than-normal. The non-firm mar
g
in incentive mechanism allows New En
g
land Gas Company to retain
25 percent of all non-firm mar
g
ins earned in excess of $1.6 million. In Au
g
ust 2006, National Grid completed the acquisition of
the Rhode Island
g
as assets of New En
g
land Gas Company. Pursuant to the Division order approvin
g
the acquisition, National
Grid a
g
reed to honour the provisions of the former New En
g
land Gas Company rate settlement and committed to file a new rate
plan within one year of the acquisition date.
Granite State Electric Company
In May 2007, Granite State entered into a settlement a
g
reement with the staff of the New Hampshire Public Utility Commission
and the New Hampshire Office of Consumer Advocate related to issues surroundin
g
the mer
g
er of National Grid USA and
KeySpan Corporation (the 2007 Settlement). Amon
g
other thin
g
s, the 2007 Settlement provides for a $2.2 million reduction in
the Company’s base distribution rates in two steps, the first $1.1 million reduction effective 30 days from the NHPUC approval
of the mer
g
er and the second $1.1 million reduction effective January 1, 2008. The 2007 Settlement also contains a distribution
rate plan spannin
g
10 years effective January 1, 2008 (Rate Plan). In the first five years of the Rate Plan distribution rates are
frozen except for rate adjustments in the event of certain uncontrollable exo
g
enous events and moderate annual rate
adjustments related to specific Reliability Enhancement and Ve
g
etation Mana
g
ement Plans (REP/VMP). The Rate Plan also
includes an earnin
g
s sharin
g
mechanism based on an imputed capital structure of 50 percent debt and 50 percent equity and a
ROE sharin
g
threshold of 11 percent, equal to an allowed ROE of 9.67 percent plus an allowance for mer
g
er syner
g
y savin
g
s
of 1.33 percent. Earnin
g
s above 11 percent ROE are shared equally between customers and the Company. The Rate Plan also
establishes a storm contin
g
ency fund and customer service commitments by the Company. The 2007 Settlement is subject to
the approval of the NHPUC and contin
g
ent on the closin
g
of the mer
g
er. However, the $2.2 million distribution rate reduction,
REP/VMP, storm contin
g
ency fund and customer service commitments are subject only to NHPUC approval of the mer
g
er and
are not contingent on the closing of the Merger.
NOTE C – COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES
Environmental issues
The normal on
g
oin
g
operations and historic activities of the Company are subject to various federal, state and local
environmental laws and regulations. Like most other industrial companies, the Company’s transmission and distribution
companies use or
g
enerate a broad ran
g
e of hazardous materials. Under federal and state Superfund laws, potential liability for
the historic contamination of property may be imposed on responsible parties jointly and severally, without fault, even if the
activities were lawful when they occurred.
Federal and state environmental regulators, as well as private parties, have alleged that the Company’s transmission and
distribution companies are potentially responsible parties under Superfund laws for the remediation of over 180 contaminated
sites in New England and New York. The Company’s
g
reatest potential Superfund liabilities relate to manufactured
g
as plant, or
MGP, facilities formerly owned or operated by the Company’s subsidiaries or their predecessors. MGP by-products included
fuel oils, hydrocarbons, coal tar, purifier waste and other waste products that may pose a risk to human health and the
environment. The Company is investigating or remediating these sites, or both, as appropriate.
Management believes that ongoing operations and the Company’s response to the impact of the Company’s historic operations
are in substantial compliance with environmental laws, and that the obli
g
ations imposed are not likely to have a material
adverse impact on the Company’s financial
F-20