Northeast Utilities

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Northeast Utilities

Type	Public (NYSE: NU)
Founded	1966
Headquarters	Berlin, Connecticut, USA
Area served	Connecticut, Western Massachusetts, New Hampshire
Key people	NU is governed by an 8-member Board of Trustees. Elizabeth T. Kennan, Lead Trustee[1]
Industry	Electric Utilities
Products	generation, transmission and distribution
Website	www.nu.com, CL&P - www.cl-p.com WMECO - www.wmeco.com PSNH - www.psnh.com

Northeast Utilities (NYSE: NU) is a publicly-traded, Fortune 500 energy company headquartered in Berlin, Connecticut, with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity and natural gas service to more than 2 million customers in New England.

NU is New England's largest energy delivery system, with more than 3,000 circuit miles of electric transmission lines and 32,800 pole miles of distribution lines throughout the region, and a natural gas distribution system encompassing more than 2,000 square miles (5,000 km²) in Connecticut.

NU was formed on July 1, 1966, with the merger of Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P), Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO), and The Hartford Electric Light Company under a single parent company, creating the first new multi-state public utility holding company since the enactment of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. In 1967, Holyoke Water Power Company (HWP) joined the NU System, followed by the Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) in 1992.

Northeast Utilities has four main subsidiaries. These are CL&P, PSNH, WMECO, and Yankee Gas Services Company (Yankee Gas).

CL&P is Connecticut's largest electric utility, serving more than 1.1 million customers. This subsidiary serves residential, municipal, commercial and industrial customers in approximately 149 cities and towns.

PSNH is New Hampshire's largest electric utility, serving more than 475,000 homes and businesses throughout the state. This subsidiary owns three fossil fuel-fired generating plants and nine hydroelectric facilities, jointly capable of generating more than 1,110 megawatts of electricity.

WMECO is a main distributor of electricity in western Massachusetts, serving more than 200,000 customers.

Yankee Gas is Connecticut's largest natural gas distribution company, delivering natural gas to approximately 200,000 customers in approximately 71 cities and towns. This subsidiary delivers natural gas to thousands of Connecticut homes for heating, hot water, cooking (indoors and outdoors), fireplaces and outdoor lighting.

In November 2005, the company announced it would sell its unregulated competitive businesses, including generation and energy services. In November 2006 the company had essentially completed the divestiture of its competitive businesses.

[edit] HVDC transmission

Northeast Utilities has signed on a joint venture with Hydro-Québec and NSTAR to build a new High-voltage direct current (HVDC) line from Des Cantons, Quebec (connecting with the Quebec - New England Transmission line) to a location in central New Hampshire. It is projected that the line will either run in existing right-of-way adjacent to the HVDC line that runs through New Hampshire, or it will connect to a right-of-way in northern New Hampshire that will run through the White Mountains. This 180- to 190-mile line, projected to carry 1,200 megawatts, will carry electricity to approximately one million homes.^[2]

[edit] References

[edit] Related Articles

1. Kobak, Steve. "46 years after breaking color barrier, NU's first black lineman retires." The Norwalk Hour. Published 5/9/2009. http://www.thehour.com/story/469152/