references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . september 2008 learn how and when to remove this template message eversource energy type public traded as nyse es s & p 500 component industry utility founded 1966 headquarters hartford connecticut united states and boston massachusetts united states 1 area served connecticut massachusetts new hampshire key people governed by an 14 member board of trustees . sanford cloud jr. lead trustee 2 3 4 products transmission distribution and generation website eversource.com eversource energy formerly known as northeast utilities is a publicly traded fortune 500 energy company headquartered in hartford connecticut and boston massachusetts with several regulated subsidiaries offering retail electricity and natural gas service to more than 3.6 million 5 customers in connecticut massachusetts and new hampshire . following its 2012 merger with boston based nstar nu has more than 4 270 circuit miles of electric transmission lines 72 000 pole miles of distribution lines and 6 459 miles of natural gas pipeline in new england . 6 on february 2 2015 northeast utilities and all its subsidiaries rebranded themselves as eversource energy . 7 the stock symbol changed on february 19 2015 from nu to es . 8 contents 1 history 2 corporate structure 3 political connections 4 hvdc transmission 5 transmission controversy 6 major projects 7 references 8 external links history edit es was formed on july 1 1966 with the merger of connecticut light and power company cl & p formed in 1917 western massachusetts electric company wmeco formed in 1886 and the hartford electric light company formed in 1878 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 formed in 1859 joined the nu system and in 1992 the public service company of new hampshire psnh formed in 1926 followed . in 1999 con edison and northeast utilities entered merger negotiations and the companies began preparations to merge but the deal fell apart in 2001 when con edison backed away from the merger after connecticut s attorney general richard blumenthal threatened lawsuits to block it . the deal would have created one of the largest utilities in the united states . 9 legislation passed in the late 1990s deregulated the electricity market in new england and required regulated utilities to divest generating stations to competitive suppliers . in 1999 the company divested all of the generating assets of wmeco and cl & p per requirements of the massachusetts and connecticut legislation . the company retained some of these assets by transferring them to a new subsidiary called northeast generation which functioned as a competitive supplier and sold the other assets entirely wmeco s west springfield generating station and several related hydroelectric and fossil fuel generating units were sold to con edison while other assets most notably the northfield mountain hydroelectric facility were transferred to northeast generation . in 2001 nu sold all of holyoke water power company s electrical distribution and hydroelectric generation assets to the city of holyoke . the city s municipal gas electric department assumed responsibility for the generators and absorbed the hwp distribution customer base . 10 nu retained the single remaining asset of holyoke water power company the mt. tom coal fired generator . between 2000 and 2002 due to state laws nu divested wmeco cl & p and psnh s nuclear generating assets including seabrook and millstone stations as well as its stake in vermont yankee . in 2006 nu decided to sell the generating units it had earlier retained in the 1999 divestiture as competitive suppliers and shutdown its competitive generation business units . the northeast generation assets including mount tom station and northfield mountain were all sold to firstlight power resources . 11 psnh continued to operate regulated hydroelectric and fossil fuel generation assets to serve its default basic service customers that did not choose a competitive supplier the state of new hampshire had not required divestiture of its generation assets . 12 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 . 13 in october 2010 northeast utilities announced that it would merge with nstar with the resulting company retaining the northeast utilities name for the next several years . 14 after government approvals the deal closed in april 2012 . 15 corporate structure edit before its rebranding to the eversource energy name in february 2015 the company operated six main subsidiaries cl & p psnh wmeco yankee gas services company yankee gas nstar electric and nstar gas . 6 all now currently operate under the eversource name . eversource remains connecticut s largest electric utility serving more than 1.2 million residential municipal commercial and industrial customers in approximately 149 cities and towns . it also serves approximately 200 000 natural gas customers in 71 cities and towns . eversource is also new hampshire s largest electric utility serving more than 500 000 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 . it is also a main distributor of energy to 1.7 million customers throughout massachusetts including more than 1.4 million electric customers in 140 communities and more than 300 000 natural gas customers in 51 communities . political connections edit as a large utility company eversource and its subsidiaries are regulated by state and federal regulators . the company has contributed to the election campaigns of several connecticut politicians . among organizations the company known as northeast utilities at the time was the third biggest contributor to representative christopher murphy ct 5 16 the fourth biggest contributor to representative joe courtney ct 2 17 and the sixth biggest contributor to representative john larson ct 1 18 during the july 2009 to june 2011 period . during the longer four year period from july 2007 to june 2011 northeast utilities and its executives donated 56 900 to rep. christopher murphy 19 38 100 to rep. joe courtney 20 30 000 to rep. john larson 21 11 800 to rep. jim himes ct 4 22 and 6 000 to rep. rosa delauro ct 3 . 23 in 2015 eversource fought the rooftop solar industry and supported anti solar policies . in massachusetts they staffed the state house with lobbyists in order to end legislation promoting growth of the solar industry . 24 during the 2015 legislative session in new hampshire eversource opposed an increase to the state s solar net metering cap . 25 new hampshire s cap is lower than all neighboring states . 26 hvdc transmission edit as northeast utilities the company signed on a joint venture with hydro qu bec and nstar to build a new high voltage direct current hvdc line from windsor quebec connecting with the quebec grid to a location in franklin new hampshire . it is projected that the line will either run in an 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 . 27 the issue of buying hydropower from hydro qu bec had been an issue during the massachusetts gubernatorial election of 2010 . 28 in november 2015 the sierra club of new hampshire also expressed opposition for the new line saying that it would not only benefit connecticut and massachusetts residents more than those in new hampshire but also the concern of the flooding of boreal forests during the construction of hydro qu bec s dams in northern quebec disputes with the innu first nations and the effects of tourism and the environment within the white mountain national forest . 29 transmission controversy edit while eversource reported that its electric transmission earnings were up 80 percent in q2 2015 30 the federal energy regulatory commission ferc is now investigating the utility for having transmission rates that appear to be unjust unreasonable and unduly discriminatory or preferential . 31 meanwhile the potential for rooftop solar to prevent the need for new transmission lines is growing and eversource wants to cap rooftop solar growth in the state 32 major projects edit eversource energy has participated in a number of projects to improve the reliability of the power grid in southwest connecticut . the first project was construction of the 350 million 345 kilovolt bethel norwalk transmission line through the western part of the state and was constructed entirely by the company when it was still known as northeast utilities . with united illuminating an upgrade to the 69 mile 112 km 345 kilovolt middletown norwalk transmission line was energized in 2009 at a cost of 900 million . in 2013 the greater springfield reliability project a component of the ongoing new england east west solution was energized at a cost of 795 million . the project addressed numerous reliability issues with the springfield ma area s 115 kv transmission system by constructing two new 345 kv lines to the agawam substation ; one line north to ludlow and the other south to north bloomfield connecticut . the new 345 kv corridor added a new strong interface between massachusetts and connecticut . the project also involved rebuilding all of the 115 kv lines along the transmission corridor between south agawam and ludlow to increase their capacities building a new 115 kv transmission substation in east springfield cadwell replacing the fairmont 115 kv transmission substation in chicopee with a new substation across the street and configuring a new 115 kv line from south agawam to southwick using a combination of both new and old line segments of the former 115 kv path between agawam and north bloomfield . the new cadwell and fairmont switching stations allowed a number of three terminal 115 kv lines to be broken up into two terminal lines . finally the project allowed a problematic underground 115 kv transmission path through the city of springfield that was vulnerable to thermal overloads to be removed from service by breaking it in half at the middle . the underground lines now function solely to supply the distribution load served out of the breckwood substation in springfield . a previously proposed costly project that would have replaced the underground cables is no longer necessary . on november 20 2013 cutover of 115kv lines to the new fairmont switching station was complete marking substantial completion of the gsrp . may 2016 eversource began an electrical infrastructure project in queensbrook . the project involves replacing underground wire and transformers throughout the qb . references edit northeast utilities rebranding as eversource energy . rto insider . retrieved 19 march 2015 . http www.nu.com investors corporate gov default.asp . external link in title help nstar is now eversource pdf . https www.nu.com investors corporate gov board trustee info.asp . external link in title help http www.nu.com aboutnu default.asp . external link in title help a b http www.nu.com aboutnu nufacts.asp . external link in title help northeast utilities announces new name . marketwatch . retrieved 19 march 2015 . nstar is becoming eversource energy . here s what you should know . business the boston globe . bostonglobe.com . retrieved 19 march 2015 . northeast says merger with con edison has collapsed . the new york times . 6 march 2001 . history . hged.com . retrieved 19 march 2015 . http www.nu.com aboutnu history.asp . external link in title help psnh.com power plants . psnh.com . retrieved 19 march 2015 . northeast utilities 1 november 2006 . northeast utilities