Eversource 2014 Annual Report Download - page 43

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A summary of our retail electric GWh sales volumes and percentage changes, as well as percentage changes in CL&P, NSTAR Electric, PSNH and
WMECO retail electric GWh sales volumes, is as follows:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2014 Compared to 2013
NU CL&P NSTAR Electric PSNH WMECO
Percentage Percentage Percentage
Sales Volumes (GWh) Increase/ Increase/ Percentage Increase/ Percentage
Electric 2014 2013 (Decrease) (Decrease) Decrease Decrease Decrease
Residential 21,317 21,896 (2.6)% (2.8)% (3.0)% (1.1)% (3.2)%
Commercial 27,449 27,787 (1.2)% (1.3)% (1.2)% (0.8)% (2.0)%
Industrial 5,676 5,648 0.5 %2.5 %(1.6)% 0.6 %(2.5)%
Total 54,442 55,331 (1.6)% (1.6)% (1.8)% (0.7)% (2.6)%
A summary of our firm natural gas sales volumes in million cubic feet and percentage changes is as follows:
For the Year Ended December 31, 2014 Compared to 2013
NU
Sales Volumes (million cubic feet) Percentage
Firm Natural Gas 2014 2013 Increase
Residential 38,969 36,777 6.0%
Commercial 42,977 40,215 6.9%
Industrial 22,245 21,266 4.6%
Total 104,191 98,258 6.0%
Total, Net of Special Contracts
(1)
99,500 94,083 5.8%
(1) Special contracts are unique to the customers who take service under such an arrangement and generally specify the amount of distribution revenue to be paid to
Yankee Gas regardless of the customers'usage.
Weather, fluctuations in energy supply costs, conservation measures (including utility-sponsored energy efficiency programs), and economic
conditions affect customer energy usage. Industrial sales are less sensitive to temperature variations than residential and commercial sales. In our
service territories, weather impacts electric sales during the summer and electric and natural gas sales during the winter (natural gas sales are more
sensitive to temperature variations than electric sales). Customer heating or cooling usage may not directly correlate with historical levels or with the
level of degree-days that occur.
Our 2014 consolidated retail electric sales volumes were lower, as compared to 2013, due primarily to cooler summer weather in 2014. In 2014,
cooling degree days were 13 percent lower in Connecticut and western Massachusetts, 17 percent lower in the Boston metropolitan area, and 23
percent lower in New Hampshire, as compared to 2013. Weather-normalized NU consolidated retail electric sales volumes decreased one percent in
2014, as compared to 2013. We believe the decrease was due primarily to an increase in customer conservation efforts primarily by our residential
customers, including the impact of energy efficiency programs sponsored by CL&P, NSTAR Electric and WMECO.
For WMECO and CL&P (effective December 1, 2014), fluctuations in retail electric sales volumes do not impact earnings due to the regulatory
commission approved revenue decoupling mechanisms. Distribution revenues are decoupled from their customer sales volumes. CL&P and
WMECO reconcile their annual base distribution rate recovery to pre-established levels of baseline distribution delivery service revenues. Any
difference between the allowed level of distribution revenue and the actual amount incurred during a 12-month period is adjusted through rates in the
following period. The decoupling mechanism effectively breaks the relationship between sales volumes and revenues recognized. Prior to
December 1, 2014, CL&P recognized LBR related to reductions in sales volume as a result of successful energy efficiency programs. LBR was
recovered from retail customers through the FMCC. Effective December 1, 2014, CL&P no longer recognizes LBR due to its revenue decoupling
mechanism. NSTAR Electric continues to recognize LBR through December 31, 2015 in accordance with the 2012 DPU-approved comprehensive
merger settlement agreement with the Massachusetts Attorney General. For the year ended December 31, 2014, CL&P and NSTAR Electric
recognized LBR of $5.3 million and $39.9 million, respectively.
Our firm natural gas sales are subject to many of the same influences as our retail electric sales. In addition, they have benefited from historically
favorable natural gas prices and customer growth across both operating companies. Our 2014 consolidated firm natural gas sales volumes, consisting
of the firm natural gas sales volumes of Yankee Gas and NSTAR Gas, were higher, as compared to 2013, due primarily to colder weather in the first
quarter of 2014, as compared to the same period in 2013, and increased customer growth in 2014, as compared to 2013. Weather-normalized NU
consolidated firm natural gas sales volumes increased 2.9 percent in 2014, as compared to 2013.
NU parent and other companies, which include our unregulated businesses, had a net loss of $10.6 million in
2014, compared with earnings of $11.1 million in 2013. Excluding the impact of integration costs, NU parent and other companies earned $11.5
million in 2014, compared with $24.9 million in 2013. The earnings decrease in 2014 was due primarily to a higher effective tax rate and the
absence in 2014 of the favorable impact from the resolution of the Connecticut state income tax audit.