Thursday October 19, 2006 n Cheshire's Barry Lockwood received the Chairman's Lifesaving Action Award today. NU Stock Update At Close: 24.25, up 0.05 Volume: 1,150,700 shares Summary: NU shares closed up by about 0.2 percent on very heavy volume of more than 1.05 million shares Wednesday. Broader markets were mixed. Current NU share price and graphs. Contact Us: Send a comment on today's issue. Is there a topic you want to hear more about? Other Closing Prices: Dow Industrials: 1,182.68, up 42.66 NASDAQ: 2,337.15, down 7.80 S&P 500: 1,365.96, up 1.91 Dow Utilities: 442.81, up 3.48 Quick Links: n PSNH's 'The Current' n Transmission Times n Yankee Gas and CL&P's '@Work' n 2006 Energizer Challenge n Donate online to the 2006 Employee Giving Campaign n NU restructuring news archive Highlights · Lockwood wins Lifesaving Action Award · Not much room to maneuver for NU's 46 crews in Buffalo · Business continuity plans tested in drill · NGS plans to draw down Candlewood Lake · Blumenthal wants DPUC to investigate CL&P performance Around the Company Lockwood recognized with Lifesaving Action Award Barry Lockwood, a CL&P troubleshooter in Cheshire, was honored today with the Chairman’s Lifesaving Action Award, for helping save the life of a jogger who had collapsed. On the job in Bristol in July, Lockwood saw a female jogger collapse. He called 911 and went to her aid. Her eyes glazed over, her breathing was labored and she lost consciousness so Lockwood and another bystander began applying CPR until medical personnel arrived and took over. She was transported by LifeStar to a local hospital where she recovered. She is now a sophomore at the University of Chicago. Using the safety training he has received, Lockwood provided effective emergency medical care in a life-threatening situation. · For more photos from the award ceremony, please click on this link. · Click on this link for other previous Chairman's Lifesaving Action Award winners. Buffalo restoration: Not much room to maneuver for crews It’s tight quarters for some NU crews performing restoration work in Buffalo for National Grid following last Thursday’s snowstorm that knocked out power to thousands of customers. As of 6 a.m., National Grid has 56,000 customers without power. Twenty CL&P and 12 WMECO crews are in Buffalo while the 14 PSNH crews are in nearby Amherst, N.Y. On Wednesday, CL&P crews were in a section of downtown Buffalo that resembled Queens with homes snugly positioned on both sides of the street. Crews split up to tackle both sides of the street and work on utility poles in the backyards and working around fences, garages, storm debris, sheds and cars in the driveways. Workers generally have to climb the poles to make repairs. And crews remain vigilant about residential generators in operation and nearby utility crews also performing restoration work. “They are very happy they see our trucks,” said CL&P’s Jack Dolan, a manager of Customer Operations in Stamford. “I guess they see the end in sight when we pull onto the street.” · Click on this link for more on the Buffalo restoration effort. Look for Friday's update in NU Today's Storm Edition. Business continuity plans tested in drill NU employees from across the company participated in a "tabletop" exercise last Friday in Berlin to see how well business continuity plans (BCPs) responded under various adverse conditions. The half-day exercise, involving approximately 80 employees and 40 work groups from all operating companies and departments, demonstrated how different plans would work together to ensure the continuation of crucial business functions during and after a disaster. The drill was successful, said Ed Goldberg, NU’s Business Continuity coordinator. The drill helped participants respond to each new challenge and evaluate their response in a larger NU effort. · Click on this link for more information on the drills, the scenarios tested and photos. Deadlines for year-end invoice, payment processing As 2006 comes to a close, Accounts Payable is asking that Invoice Reviewers and Approvers please start reviewing the invoices on your desks and submit them for payment processing ASAP. Both purchase order (PO)-related invoices and non-purchase order (AFP's) related invoices will be accepted until Monday, Dec. 18. For more information, please call the Accounts Payable help desk at Berlin Ext. 701-4592 or go to the Accounting home page on the NUnet at http://nunet.nu.com/NUCorporate/Depts/Acct/ Berlin Data Center outage on Monday night To install a remote power panel in the Berlin Data Center, a power shutdown is scheduled for Monday, Oct. 23, from 10 p.m. to Tuesday morning, Oct. 24, at 4 a.m. All access to information on network or data servers will be unavailable during the outage. Employees will have access to applications or documents locally installed on the C:\ drive (Word, PowerPoint and Excel). If you still have network connectivity problems after the maintenance is done, reboot your computer. Dial-in or VPN connection will not be affected during this outage. For technology assistance, submit an ITSC Electronic Ticket by logging on to any working computer or ask a co-worker to submit it on your behalf. Information Technology will respond in two hours or less. Passport maintenance on Monday The Passport application suite will be unavailable early Monday morning Oct. 23, from 12:30 a.m. to 2 a.m. for maintenance. All Passport applications including AITTS, eMIMS, MIB-INDUS, MSDS, the DMS/PMMS interfaces and EZ-MR will be unavailable. For technology assistance, submit an ITSC Electronic Ticket by logging on to any working computer or ask a co-worker to submit it on your behalf. Information Technology will respond in two hours or less. Mainframe maintenance for Yankee Gas All Yankee Gas Production mainframe CICS regions, TSO, BATCH and RMDS will be unavailable for maintenance on Sunday, Oct. 22, from 12:30 a.m. to 2:30 a.m. The outage will also include Yankee Gas NATL Natural Applications and Yankee Gas CCIS. For technology assistance, submit an ITSC Electronic Ticket by logging on to any working computer or ask a co-worker to submit it on your behalf. Information Technology will respond in two hours or less. CL&P, Yankee Gas help build awareness As part of its education campaign to make contractors in the state more aware of underground excavation safety, CL&P was an exhibitor at the recent 8th annual Public Utility Expo in Southington, Conn., sponsored by Call Before You Dig (CBYD). Education and awareness are an ongoing process that CL&P and Yankee Gas support. CL&P had its “Spark Box” demonstrator to help reinforce to contractors the hazards of underground and overhead lines and equipment. Examples of overhead and underground equipment was there for inspection by the contractors and CL&P distributed its “Contractor Beware” safety pamphlet. Over 400 contractors attended. Connecticut’s electric, natural gas, oil, water, communications and sewer utility companies fund Call Before You Dig, a non-profit organization that provides information on the location of underground utilities to prevent accidents and damage. · Click on this link for photos from the event. Businesses to learn about energy efficiency at What's The Deal CL&P and Yankee Gas will be exhibitors at the 7th annual What’s the Deal energy conference on Tuesday, Oct. 24, in Cromwell, Conn., sponsored by the Connecticut Power and Energy Society and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association. The morning session includes a session on how businesses can reduce energy costs through energy efficiency programs. In the afternoon, there will be a discussion on the state of energy in Connecticut with officials from ISO New England, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control and state DEP. Senator Joseph Lieberman, who is running for re-election, will be the keynote speaker. · For more information on the event, please click on the following link. http://www.cbia.com/whatsthedeal.htm Plan on voting on November 7 Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 7 with Congressional, state and local elections being held. Be sure to make your voice heard and your views represented by voting. The polls are open in most states from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. If you can’t vote on Nov. 7, inquire about obtaining an absentee ballot. For more information on voting, click on the links for the respective states. · Connecticut: http://www.sots.ct.gov/ · Massachusetts: http://www.sec.state.ma.us/index.htm · New Hampshire: http://www.sos.nh.gov/ Diversity awareness: Diwali begins this weekend Saturday begins the Festival of Lights for Diwali in India. This holiday is one of the biggest festivals of Hindus and is celebrated for five straight days. The third day is the main day of Diwali and is celebrated as the Festival of Lights. People light divas and candles around their home and in the evening, Lakshmi Puja is performed to seek divine blessings. People also exchange Diwali gifts with their dear ones and celebrate with fireworks, usually firecrackers, in the evening. · For more about Diwali, click on this link. http://www.diwalifestival.org/ Raffle for UConn men's tickets to benefit Giving Campaign To help support NU’s 2006 Employee Giving Campaign, NU’s Governmental Affairs team is hosting a raffle for two tickets to a UConn men’s basketball game at the Hartford Civic Center this winter. Click on the following link for an entry form and to learn how to enter the raffle. The drawing will take place on Oct. 31. Recreation Committee events The NUSCO Recreation Committee will be selling 2007 Entertainment Books, which contain discount coupons and specials valid through Nov. 1, 2007. The Hartford area book is $30 and the New Haven area book is $25. To get your book, send a check made payable to the NUSCO Recreation Committee with the specific book and quantity along with your name, mail location and phone number to Linda Zavecz (BMS2), Lori Conant (NUE2) or Laurie Bennet (Windsor, Credit). The final day of the sale is Dec. 22. Discount coupons for a special sale at Timberland stores from Oct. 25-30 are available from security personnel at the main desk in NU East or NU main lobbies or by e-mailing Toni Simone Rose in Berlin with your request and mail location. Employees can also save at Timberland.com during this period by using the promotional code PREHOLIDAY for 30 percent savings. Click on this link for more information on this promotion. In the News DPUC asked to investigate CL&P performance In the wake of underground cable failures in Stamford, Meriden and Waterbury in the last six months, Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is asking the Department of Public Utility Control to investigate the safety and reliability of CL&P’s distribution system. "The growing frequency and severity of these occurrences certainly argues for a broader investigation," Blumenthal said Wednesday. Mitch Gross, a CL&P spokesman, said the utility will cooperate with any investigation. "We are cooperating fully with the DPUC with regard to the findings and directives of that report," Gross said. (Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com/business/hc-poweraudit1019.artoct19,0,6827455.story?coll=hc-headlines-business, Waterbury Republican American, http://www.rep-am.com/story.php?id=14183, 10/18) Pressure increases to release supplier bids in Connecticut Republican Gov. M. Jodi Rell and Attorney General Richard Blumenthal will jointly send a letter to the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) asking that bids by companies seeking to supply electricity to United Illuminating and CL&P be released to the public. DPUC chairman Donald Downes said the information would remain secure until after all the bids have been made to keep prices down. "I'm not inviting a legal challenge here,” Downes said. “We're going to finish the bidding, and we're going to do this in an orderly process.” CL&P expects to receive its final bids for 2007 supply on Oct. 30 and UI expects its final bids on Nov. 7. (Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com/news/politics/hc-ctgovpower1018.artoct18,0,7395554.story?coll=hc-headlines-politics-state, 10/17; Manchester Journal Inquirer, http://www.journalinquirer.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=17343838&BRD=985&PAG=461&dept_id=161556&rfi=6, Associated Press, Stamford Advocate, http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/local/state/hc-18185223.apds.m0368.bc-ct--connoct18,0,4749594.story?coll=hc-headlines-local-wire, 10/18) Newspaper endorses NU employee for re-election The Hartford Courant endorses Enfield Republican John Kissel in the race for the 7th District seat in the Connecticut State Senate. Kissel is a lawyer at NU in Berlin and is seeking his eighth term. “Mr. Kissel is well practiced in the art of compromise, making him the better candidate,” the paper wrote. Kissel is currently the deputy minority leader in the Senate. (Hartford Courant, http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-endorses71019.artoct19,0,3480612.story?coll=hc-headlines-editorials, 10/18) NGS plans to draw down Candlewood Lake Northeast Generation Services will draw down Candlewood Lake for the third straight year beginning Nov. 1 to try and kill the invasive water weed called Eurasian milfoil. The weather wasn’t cold enough the last two years to kill the weed. The drawdown will be complete around Christmas and the lake will remain low for another two weeks before it begins to fill again. About 25 to 30 feet of shoreline should be exposed. Candlewood, which holds 60 billion gallons of water, will be reduced by 18 billion gallons with the drawdown. Residents along the lake will also be able to repair docks and sea walls. (Danbury News Times, http://www.newstimeslive.com/news/story.php?id=1018063, 10/17) Around the Industry Bodman asks New England to explore all power supply options Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said New England needs to be open to all options for expanding capacity and improving the grid in the region. Bodman said the region needs to be less resistant to proposed new transmission lines and plants, as well as new natural gas pipelines, LNG proposals, and renewables installations. NERC warned on Monday that New England may face rolling blackouts in coming years if regulators and utilities do not find a solution for regional power supply problems. The U.S. Department of Energy is considering designating the region as a national interest corridor, which would give federal regulators backstop siting authority for lines and plants that were rejected by state regulators. (Dow Jones News Serivce [no free online version available], 10/18) LIPA plans $500 million initiative to upgrade system Long Island Power Authority is beginning a $500 million initiative to strengthen its distribution system over the next 20 years to make it more durable when storms and other severe weather presses at it. "It's not unusual for utilities to do it. They've been doing it forever," said Matthew Cordaro, dean of Long Island University. "It's something they should do, but it's not extraordinary." (Newsday, http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzlipa4937367oct18,0,7677929.story?coll=ny-business-print, 10/17) EIA predicts coal imports will rise in ’07 The Energy Information Administration predicted that coal imports will climb 11.3 percent in 2007 as utility demand grows 2.9 percent and imports become more competitive with prices for domestic coal. Utilities responded to the outlook report by focusing on the failure of U.S. railroads to deliver sufficient supplies under existing contracts, saying this problem is forcing them to look overseas to make up the supply gap. Railroads blame the utilities for reducing coal inventories and scrambling when they need additional supply. (Energy Washington Week [no online version available, 10/17) Click on the following link for the EIA’s short-term fuel outlook. http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/steo/pub/contents.html El Paso sells interest in two New England facilities El Paso Corp. has completed its plan to quit the U.S. power business. The final acts were selling its 100 percent interest in Hartford-based Capitol District Energy Center Cogeneration Associates to Maxim Power and its 56 percent share of Energy Investors Fund to fund partner Berkshire Power in Agawam, Mass. (Associated Press, Houston Chronicle, http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/4266046.html, Houston Business Journal, http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2006/10/16/daily14.html, 10/18) GE Energy plans to auction transmission line capacity GE Energy Financial Services said it plans to put the 300 MW of transmission capacity for New York City that it expects to bring online in late 2009 up for auction in January 2007. The capacity will come from three variable flow transformers that will link GE's Linden cogeneration plant in New Jersey with a Consolidated Edison substation on Staten Island. The auction, which requires FERC approval, would be open to bids from utilities, energy traders, and business consumers starting in mid-January. (Crain’s New York Business, http://www.newyorkbusiness.com/news.cms?id=15007, 10/17) Company prefers transmission and FERC regulation ITC Holdings is gambling that FERC will continue to treat the company fairly when ITC pays $865 million for Michigan Electric’s transmission lines. FERC allows ITC to earn 13.38 percent return on equity (ROE) compared to an allowed ROE of 11 to 12 percent for utilities. As an independent owner, ITC is regulated just by FERC instead of the states. (Dow Jones News Service [no free online version available], 10/16, PRNewswire, http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/061010/nytu171.html?.v=61, 10/10) Maryland regulators could be eliminated in ‘07 Observers anticipate that the Maryland Legislature will renew its effort to fire commissioners on the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) by passing a bill to reshape or end the PSC when the lawmakers convene in 2007. The Maryland Supreme Court overturned a legislative effort to fire the five commissioners in September, but it declared that the legislature does have the power to abolish or restructure the PSC. (Baltimore Business Journal, http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2006/10/16/story6.html?t=printable, 10/13) Failed merger leaves PSEG with aging meter system The failed merger of PSEG and Exelon has forced PSEG to rely on its own testing of advanced meter readers rather than use Exelon's experience in the field to help it develop an automated reading system. Exelon subsidiary PECO uses radio transmitters to track usage by its Pennsylvania consumers and offer peak-demand programs that cut rates for usage in off-peak hours. PSEG still uses on-site readers who manually send meter readings to the utility, although it is about to begin a program to track consumption by 240,000 of its gas consumers through attaching battery-powered transmitters to existing meters. (Bergen Record, http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkyOCZmZ2JlbDdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5NzAwNDc1NyZ5cmlyeTdmNzE3Zjd2cWVlRUV5eTI=, 10/15) Links to newspaper stories in NU Today: Some Web sites require registration to view their content. Registration is free for many Web sites. Most stories on the Wall Street Journalare not available unless you pay for an online subscription. NU Todaystrives to use links to free Web sites as much as possible. NU TODAY is produced by Communications, BMN1, Berlin, twice a week on Monday and Thursday. For more information on the items in today's edition, refer to the Employee Information Board or go to http://nunet.nu.com/. If you have news to report, please e-mail it to EMCOM, fax it to Berlin Ext. 701-3614 or call Berlin Ext. 701-3072. Copyright 2006, Northeast Utilities Service Company