Energy Choice
                            

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Public Service of New Hampshire To Sell Utility Power Plants Under Agreement With Legislators

March 12, 2015

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Copyright 2010-15 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Karen Abbott • kabbott@energychoicematters.com

Eversource Energy has agreed to sell its Public Service of New Hampshire power plants, which it said would result in at least $300 million in savings to its New Hampshire customers

Through the agreement Eversource agrees to sell its PSNH hydro facilities and fossil fuel plants, including three fossil fuel and nine hydroelectric power plants

PSNH's PPAs will be retained but no longer dedicated to default service. Products will be sold into the market, with costs/benefits allocated via a nonbypassable charge.

The sale of the plants means that customers will no longer be responsible for paying for the continued operation of the plants, and will avoid potentially costly investments to meet environmental standards, the company said. In addition, customers will no longer pay the existing regulated rate of return on the plants.

Instead, upon the sale of the plants, Eversource will purchase energy for its New Hampshire customers in the market, consistent with all other utilities in the state and across the region, the company said.

The nature of PSNH default service, including product type and procurement schedule, will be the methodology ultimately adopted by the PUC in its current review of default service procurement issues under Docket IR 14-338

PSNH agrees to forego $25 million in recovery related to the scrubber at Merrimack Station. Otherwise, all scrubber costs will be recovered through default service rates, starting in 2016.

The sale process for the plants require the buyer to continue operation of the power plants for at least 18 months following sale

Parties to the agreement include Eversource Energy, State Senators Jeb Bradley and Dan Feltes, the Office of the Consumer Advocate, the state Office of Energy and Planning, and Staff of the Public Utilities Commission

According to the agreement, Eversource shareholders will also provide $5 million to capitalize a clean energy fund which will target investments in energy efficiency and distributed generation projects.

The estimated $300 million in customer savings stems from low-cost securitization of stranded costs

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