Monday March 12, 2007 n PSNH's Tim Kenney is a lineworker out of the Hooksett AWC. NU Stock Update At Close: 29.32, up 0.08 Volume: 14,800 shares Summary: 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: 12,276.32, up 15.62 NASDAQ: 2,387.55, down 0.18 S&P 500: 1,402.85, up 0.96 Dow Utilities: 476.23, up 1.19 Quick Links: n PSNH's 'The Current' n Milestones (Feb./March 2007) n Yankee Gas and CL&P's '@work' n Transmission Times n WMECO's 'It's Electric' n CL&P Energy Information.com n NU Video Highlights · Additional generation would benefit PSNH customers and the region · CL&P installs nesting box for bird near substation · NU Video: A gift to our youth around the region · New Hampshire report says air quality in Bow area is good · National Grid, New York regulators continue to negotiate merger approval Around the Company Additional generation would benefit PSNH customers and the region In the latest edition of The Current, company officials talk about the reasons that PSNH is working with New Hampshire legislators in 2007 to pass legislation that would allow PSNH to build additional generation. Demand continues to rise in New England and ISO New England predicts that shortages could occur as soon as 2008. But it takes an average of three-to-five years to build a new facility. PSNH would like to focus on small-scale, renewable energy projects such as the Northern Wood Power Project or peaking units that run during periods of high demand. Building new generation would benefit the region and benefit New Hampshire to keep rates low and stable now and into the future. Learn more about how allowing PSNH to build additional generation will benefit New England and New Hampshire in the latest edition of The Current. Employee incentive awards to be distributed on March 15 Incentive awards for eligible employees will be included in the Thursday, March 15 paycheck. The 2006 annual incentive award reflects department or business unit results and individual performance. Management within each organization will provide employees with additional information about results and incentive awards. "These financial rewards recognize the exceptional results we achieved in a year marked by major changes to NU’s business model and challenges in the volatile energy marketplace," Chuck Shivery said in a recent NU Today Extra. "Thanks to your efforts, NU’s operational and financial results were especially strong in 2006, and our company is now in a position to effectively build on these successes going forward." · Click on this link for the recent NU Today Extra about NU's 2006 incentive awards. CL&P installs nesting box for bird near substation CL&P installed a nesting box for the American kestrel as part of its work to upgrade the Barbour Hill substation in South Windsor. A nesting box was fastened to a new transmission line pole. The American kestrel is a small raptor, similar in size to a robin. John Chalmers, a senior construction manager for CL&P, built the white cedar nest box and made sure the location of the nest and its orientation to the sun was consistent with expert specifications. It’s not the first time that Chalmers has helped protect local wildlife during substation construction. While building a substation in Massachusetts, he helped ensure easy passage for some box turtles over silt fences. For more about the Barbour Hill upgrade and other Transmission Business news, please click on this link for the latest edition of The Transmission Times. NU Video: A gift to our youth around the region Recently, the NU Foundation announced the awarding of the largest gift in its history -- a $1 million grant to the Connecticut Science Center, currently under construction in Hartford. The grant will fund a planned physical science gallery and its “Forces in Motion” exhibit. Click on the photo to the left for more on that announcement in today's edition of NU Video. · High speed version: Employees in Berlin, Windsor and Manchester can click here for a higher resolution version of today's NU Video. · Click here for more NU Video. McHale to speak to members of investment community David McHale, senior vice president and chief financial officer at NU, will make a presentation to members of the investment community on Thursday, March 15, at the Morgan Stanley 14th annual Global Electricity & Energy Conference in New York. (Energy Daily, http://theenergydaily.com/pr/pr.php?iid=6988, PRNewswire, http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/070308/clth111.html?.v=17, 3/9) Business owners graduate from training program Ten Greater Hartford business owners recently graduated following 10 weeks of intensive computer training sponsored by the Spanish American Merchants Association (SAMA) and CL&P. Since its inception in 2000, 214 business owners have completed the training. The program provides training in accounting, office management, QuickBooks, conducting business via the Internet and hands-on technical assistance. For more information, contact Ana Alfaro (alfarag@nu.com) at Hartford Ext. 301-2332. For more Yankee Gas and CL&P news, click on this link for the latest edition of @Work. WAN outage scheduled for Wednesday, March 14 Wide Area Network (WAN) maintenance is scheduled for Wednesday, March 14, from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Network connectivity will be lost for approximately 30 minutes at WMECO's East Springfield site. Employees at East Springfield will have access only to locally installed applications (Word, PowerPoint and Excel). They will not have access to Lotus Notes, Mainframe or Internet applications or access to any documents or applications that reside on a Berlin or Windsor server ( I, J, K, N drives). If you still have network connectivity problems after the maintenance is done, reboot your computer. This outage will be postponed in the event of storm activity. 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. IT will respond in 2 hours or less. AABE chapter to host development seminar on March 22 The Connecticut chapter of American Association of Blacks in Energy (AABE) will host a special personal development seminar called the “Nine Principles of Workplace Success” on Thursday, March 22, at 6 p.m. in the Berlin cafeteria. Refreshments will be served. There is no charge and employees are encouraged to attend. Please RVSP to Margo Jackson at jacksme@nu.com or call Newtown Ext. 204-5946. Click on this link for more information. Recreation Committee events Tickets are available for two shows at the Chevorlet Theatre in Wallingford, Conn. Randy Jackson and the Hartford Symphony featuring the music of Led Zeppelin will perform on Saturday, April 14 with tickets selling for $38.80 each. Doo Wop, the All-Star Rock 'n Roll reunion will perform on Saturday, April 21 with tickets selling for $34.90. The seats for both shows are section 201, rows A-H. For tickets, e-mail your request to Toni Rose. Ticket sales end Monday, March 23. Saturday is St. Patrick's Day Originally a religious holiday to honor St. Patrick, who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the 5th century, St. Patrick’s Day has evolved into a celebration of all things Irish – anything green and gold, shamrocks and luck. It is celebrated on March 17, a religious feast day to celebrate the anniversary of his death in the 5th century. It is a happy holiday for the Irish wherever they may be - in Dublin, New York City, Boston or San Francisco. The first St. Patrick’s day parade took place in the U.S. on March 17, 1762. Along with their music, the parade helped soldiers to reconnect with their Irish roots. On St. Patrick's Day, Irish families traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in the afternoon with a traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage. · NU's Diversity Council encourages the celebration of Diversity and Inclusion. To learn more about NU's Diversity Council, please go to the council's Web site at http://nunet.nu.com/NUCorporate/Information/Diversity/council/. Obituary Ferdinand A. Belcamino, a former NU employee died on March 8, 2007. He retired from NU in 1985 after 40 years of service. Click on a link for a full obituary. (Newington Memorial, http://obit.newingtonmemorial.com/obit_display.cgi?id=389251&listing=Current, 3/12) In the News CL&P officials meet with Orange residents over construction Officials from CL&P met with residents in Orange last week regarding construction of CL&P and United Illuminating’s 345-kV transmission upgrade from Middletown to Norwalk and the appearance of poles used to support the transmission lines. Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal made a surprise appearance at a meeting and promised residents he would work on their behalf. "I feel my involvement perhaps could play a constructive role," Blumenthal said. (New Haven Register, http://www.nhregister.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18058512&BRD=1281&PAG=461&dept_id=517514&rfi=6, 3/9) Research director criticizes deregulation of electric industry A senior research director from Boston-based Tellus Institute testified Thursday before Connecticut’s Energy and Technology Committee that deregulation of the electric industry will never work for customers. "You can't buy at retail for the same price you can buy at wholesale or in bulk," Tellus’ Richard Rosen said. "The Tellus Institute published several reports in the '90s predicting what would happen. It's always difficult to stand up and say 'I told you so.” (Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com/ci_5390704, 3/9) State report says air quality in Bow area is good A report by the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services found that the air quality in Bow, N.H., does not present a health hazard to residents. PSNH’s Merrimack Station is nearby. The report grew out of a 2001 petition by a resident to examine air quality and certain health effects that might be associated with air emissions from the Merrimack Station. Martin Murray, a PSNH spokesman, said, "I hope (the study) eases the mind of any residents of the area who felt that perhaps the Merrimack station or other (emissions) sources pose a health risk to the area." (MNBC.com, Manchester Union Leader, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17529185/, Concord Monitor, http://www.concordmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070309/REPOSITORY/703090325/1043/NEWS01, 3/9) Around the Industry National Grid, New York regulators continue to negotiate merger approval National Grid and KeySpan are beginning to question if there is a strong reason for their merger in New York to go forward. National Grid said they will refuse to sell a New York City generation facility owned by KeySpan and hinted that the New York state regulators want so much of the savings produced by the merger to go to customers that it is threatening to end the proposed $7.3 billion merger. National Grid and KeySpan propose to return 50 percent of merger savings to customers instead of the 90 percent urged by New York Public Service Commission staff. (Dow Jones News Service, http://news.morningstar.com/news/ViewNews.asp?article=/DJ/200703081243DOWJONESDJONLINE001006_univ.xml&Cat=Utilities, 3/9) Critics want National Grid to reduce emissions at KeySpan plants Critics of the proposed merger between KeySpan and National Grid are calling for promises that current KeySpan generation plants receive updated emission control equipment as a condition of the merger approval. (Newsday, http://www.newsday.com/business/ny-bzkey0309,0,90540.story?track=rss, 3/9) Editorial: Deregulation in Connecticut hasn't worked out as planned In an editorial, the New York Times chronicles how deregulation of the electric industry has stumbled in its attempts to lower bills for customers in Connecticut. “This year’s electric bills have made Connecticut the victor in a contest no state wants to win: it now has the highest electrical rates in the continental United States. Connecticut is a master of bad timing when it comes to energy,” the newspaper writes. “It’s a mess. Businesses are leaving the state, and just about everybody is grumpy about how much it costs to keep the lights on.” (New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/opinion/CTpower.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin, 3/11) PJM Interconnection says 2006 marked by lower prices, congestion costs A Status of the Market report by PJM Interconnection's Market Monitoring Unit found that prices on the ISO's wholesale markets dropped 15.9 percent in 2006 amid adequate competition and congestion costs, which fell by 23 percent. Lower fuel costs were credited with part of the price decline, but the report observed that prices would have been lower in the absence of the lower fuel costs. It added that competitive concerns over the capacity market will be addressed by replacing it with a reliability pricing model in 2007. (PJM Interconnection news release, http://sev.prnewswire.com/oil-energy/20070309/CLF12209032007-1.html, 3/9) PG&E submits proposal for two wave-power projects Pacific Gas & Electric submitted to FERC a $3-million proposal to build two wave-power test projects generating up to 80 MW off the Northern California coast. PG&E would use the projects to study the commercial feasibility of wave power and optimal generation technology, as well as the projects' environmental impact. Roger Bedard, ocean energy head at the Electric Power Research Institute, said wave generation is six times costlier than wind and seven times costlier than natural gas generation, but incentives would encourage use of the technology and eventually lead to lower prices by increasing supply. (Los Angeles Times, http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-wave11mar11,0,2922563.story?page=1&coll=la-home-headlines, 3/11) Many coal plants planned. How many will be built? With as many as 150 new coal-based plants possible over the next 23 years, a Midwest 'coal rush' of sorts is on and heading for a showdown with Congress. The surge in coal-based power plant construction, which includes 13 currently under construction and about another 40 likely to start up in the next five years, is the biggest since the 1970s. The new projects run counter to efforts to cap or reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Utility executives argue that new coal-based power is needed to meet growing demand. (Washington Post, http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/09/AR2007030902302.html, 3/12) Shift to Daylight Saving Time being watched closely The effect of Sunday's shift to extended daylight saving time is uncertain, with Edison Electric Institute (EEI) estimating that Connecticut alone will save $3.3 million from the four-week extension in 2007. Clocks will be turned back on Nov. 4 rather than the last Sunday of October, and previously clocks were turned ahead on the first Sunday of April. EEI spokesman Jim Owen said the reduction in demand will likely be under 1 percent. The extension is temporary, with Congress awaiting information on its effect on demand before deciding whether to make it permanent. (New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/11/nyregion/nyregionspecial2/11Rdaylight.html, 3/11) 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 2007, Northeast Utilities Service Company