VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2016

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

VARIABLE INTEREST ENTITIES

The Company's variable interests outside of the consolidated group include contracts that are required by regulation and provide for regulatory recovery of contract costs and benefits through customer rates.  Eversource, CL&P and NSTAR Electric hold variable interests in variable interest entities (VIEs) through agreements with certain entities that own single renewable energy or peaking generation power plants, with other independent power producers and with transmission businesses.  Eversource, CL&P and NSTAR Electric do not control the activities that are economically significant to these VIEs or provide financial or other support to these VIEs.  Therefore, Eversource, CL&P and NSTAR Electric do not consolidate these VIEs.