Eversource 1999 Annual Report Download - page 6

Download and view the complete annual report

Please find page 6 of the 1999 Eversource annual report below. You can navigate through the pages in the report by either clicking on the pages listed below, or by using the keyword search tool below to find specific information within the annual report.

Page out of 60

  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • 7
  • 8
  • 9
  • 10
  • 11
  • 12
  • 13
  • 14
  • 15
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • 21
  • 22
  • 23
  • 24
  • 25
  • 26
  • 27
  • 28
  • 29
  • 30
  • 31
  • 32
  • 33
  • 34
  • 35
  • 36
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • 42
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • 48
  • 49
  • 50
  • 51
  • 52
  • 53
  • 54
  • 55
  • 56
  • 57
  • 58
  • 59
  • 60

ENVIRONMENTAL
NU remains committed to good environmental citizenship. We made some
mistakes in the past, and in September we put the last significant issues behind
us when two NU subsidiaries pleaded guilty in federal court to 25 violations
of federal environmental and nuclear laws and agreed to pay $10 million in
fines and contributions. The charges concerned nuclear training and environ-
mental issues at Millstone Station and environmental issues at our Devon fossil
fuel plant in the mid 1990’s.
We paid a steep price for that failure, and we are working hard to prevent
anything like that from happening again. We have worked to rebuild trust and improve
our performance, and we have made significant progress on both fronts.
In January, the senior management team began the process of reviewing all environ-
mental events and near misses to demonstrate our commitment to the people of NU, those who
regulate us, and the communities in which we do business.
NEW HAMPSHIRE SETTLEMENT
In August, PSNH and the state of New Hampshire filed a settlement with state regulators of
outstanding rate and restructuring issues that will bring competition and customer choice to the
state. This suspended pending litigation and resolved negotiations that had been ongoing since
1997. Public Utility Commission hearings were held in late 1999 and early 2000, and we expect
to hear in March if the agreement will be accepted. Presuming the settlement is approved, the
legislature must still give final approval to securitization.
RESTRUCTURING
Choice of electric supplier went into effect in Connecticut on January 1, 2000, for some state
residents, with the rest to follow in July. The Connecticut DPUC did an excellent job of imple-
menting the state’s restructuring law, and CL&P fared reasonably well as regulators worked out
the implementation details.
Rates were cut 5 percent in January 2000 which, when added to previous rate cuts, enabled
CL&P to meet the mandate that rates be at least 10 percent below December 31, 1996 levels.
CL&P was allowed to recover $126 million of its investment in the retired Millstone 1 nuclear
power plant, and the DPUC allowed the company to recover a significant amount of its nuclear
investment as stranded costs.
In September, the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy (DTE)
issued its final ruling on WMECO’s restructuring plan, confirming that its 11.8 percent rate
decreases in 1999 complied with the state’s restructuring law, and approving the recovery of
$785 million in stranded costs, which will be offset by the proceeds of WMECO’s auction of its
generating plants. The DTE disallowed any return on Millstone 2 and Millstone 3 while they
4
Hugh C. MacKenzie
President-
Retail Business Group
John H. Forsgren
Executive Vice President
and Chief Financial
Officer
Michael G. Morris
Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer
Bruce D. Kenyon
President-
Generation Group
Cheryl W. Grisé
Senior Vice President,
Secretary and
General Counsel
left to right: