Eversource, CL&P, NSTAR Electric and PSNH are subject to environmental laws and regulations intended to mitigate or remove the effect of past operations and improve or maintain the quality of the environment. These laws and regulations require the removal or the remedy of the effect on the environment of the disposal or release of certain specified hazardous substances at current and former operating sites. Eversource, CL&P, NSTAR Electric and PSNH have an active environmental auditing and training program and each believes it is substantially in compliance with all enacted laws and regulations.

Included in the number of sites and reserve amounts above are former MGP sites that were operated several decades ago and manufactured natural gas from coal and other processes, which resulted in certain by-products remaining in the environment that may pose a potential risk to human health and the environment, for which Eversource may have potential liability. The reserve balances related to these former MGP sites were $101.0 million and $92.2 million as of June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively, and related primarily to the natural gas business segment.

These reserve estimates are subjective in nature as they take into consideration several different remediation options at each specific site. The reliability and precision of these estimates can be affected by several factors, including new information concerning either the level of contamination at the site, the extent of Eversource's, CL&P's, NSTAR Electric's and PSNH's responsibility for remediation or the extent of remediation required, recently enacted laws and regulations or changes in cost estimates due to certain economic factors. It is possible that new information or future developments could require a reassessment of the potential exposure to required environmental remediation. As this information becomes available, management will continue to assess the potential exposure and adjust the reserves accordingly.

Renewable Energy: Renewable energy contracts include non-cancelable commitments under contracts of NSTAR Electric for the purchase of energy and RECs from renewable energy facilities.


NSTAR Electric
(Millions of Dollars)	2021		2022		2023		2024		2025		Thereafter		Total
Renewable Energy	$	48.1	$	103.6	$	229.3	$	339.4	$	346.2	$	6,527.7	$	7,594.3

The table has been updated to include long-term commitments of NSTAR Electric pertaining to the Massachusetts Clean Energy 83D contract, for which construction commenced in 2021. Estimated costs under this contract are expected to begin in 2023 and range between $150 million and $415 million per year under a 20-year contract, totaling approximately $6.7 billion.

Guarantees issued on behalf of unconsolidated entities, including equity method offshore wind investments, for which Eversource parent is the guarantor, are recorded at fair value as a liability on the balance sheet at the inception of the guarantee. Eversource regularly reviews performance risk under these guarantee arrangements, and in the event it becomes probable that Eversource parent will be required to perform under the guarantee, the amount of probable payment will be recorded. The fair value of guarantees issued on behalf of unconsolidated entities are recorded within Other Long-Term Liabilities on the balance sheet, and was $0.5 million as of June 30, 2021.


As of June 30, 2021
Company (Obligor)	Description	Maximum Exposure (in millions)		Expiration Dates
North East Offshore LLC	Construction-related purchase agreements with third-party contractors (1)	$	29.7	(1)
Eversource Investment LLC	Funding and indemnification obligations of North East Offshore LLC (2)	—		(2)
Sunrise Wind LLC	OREC capacity production (3)	2.2		(3)
South Fork Wind, LLC	Transmission interconnection	1.6		—
Bay State Wind LLC	Real estate purchase	2.5		2022
Various	Surety bonds (4)	59.5		2021 - 2023
Rocky River Realty Company and Eversource Service	Lease payments for real estate	4.4		2024

(1) Eversource parent issued guarantees on behalf of its 50 percent-owned affiliate, North East Offshore LLC (NEO), under which Eversource parent agreed to guarantee 50 percent of NEO’s performance of obligations under certain purchase agreements with third-party contactors, in an amount not to exceed $1.3 billion with an expiration date in 2025. Eversource parent also issued a separate guarantee to Ørsted on behalf of NEO, under which Eversource parent agreed to guarantee 50 percent of NEO’s payment obligations under certain offshore wind project construction-related agreements with Ørsted in an aggregate amount not to exceed $62.5 million. Any amounts paid under this guarantee to Ørsted will count toward, but not increase, the maximum amount of the Funding Guarantee described in Note 2, below. The guarantee expires upon the full performance of the guaranteed obligations.

(2) Eversource parent issued a guarantee (Funding Guarantee) on behalf of Eversource Investment LLC (EI), its wholly-owned subsidiary that holds a 50 percent ownership interest in NEO, under which Eversource parent agreed to guarantee certain funding obligations and certain indemnification payments of EI under the Amended and Restated Limited Liability Company Operating Agreement of NEO, in an amount not to exceed $910 million. The guaranteed obligations include payment of EI's funding obligations during the construction phase of NEO’s underlying offshore wind projects and indemnification obligations associated with third party credit support for its investment in NEO. Eversource parent’s obligations under the Funding Guarantee expire upon the full performance of the guaranteed obligations.

(3) Eversource parent issued a guarantee on behalf of its 50 percent-owned affiliate, Sunrise Wind LLC, whereby Eversource parent will guarantee Sunrise Wind LLC's performance of certain obligations, in an amount not to exceed $15.4 million, under the Offshore Wind Renewable Energy Certificate Purchase and Sale Agreement (the Agreement). The Agreement was executed on October 23, 2019, by and between the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and Sunrise Wind LLC. The guarantee expires upon the full performance of the guaranteed obligations.

Letter of Credit: On September 16, 2020, Eversource parent entered into a guarantee on behalf of EI, which holds Eversource's investments in offshore wind-related equity method investments, under which Eversource parent would guarantee EI's obligations under a letter of credit facility with a financial institution that EI may request in an aggregate amount of up to approximately $25 million.

CL&P, NSTAR Electric and PSNH have plant closure and fuel storage cost obligations to the Yankee Companies, which have each completed the physical decommissioning of their respective nuclear power facilities and are now engaged in the long-term storage of their spent fuel. The Yankee Companies fund these costs through litigation proceeds received from the DOE and, to the extent necessary, through wholesale, FERC-approved rates charged under power purchase agreements with several New England utilities, including CL&P, NSTAR Electric and PSNH. CL&P, NSTAR Electric and PSNH, in turn recover these costs from their customers through state regulatory commission-approved retail rates. The Yankee Companies collect amounts that management believes are adequate to recover the remaining plant closure and fuel storage cost estimates for the respective plants. Management believes CL&P and NSTAR Electric will recover their shares of these obligations from their customers. PSNH has recovered its total share of these costs from its customers.

The Yankee Companies have filed complaints against the DOE in the Court of Federal Claims seeking monetary damages resulting from the DOE's failure to accept delivery of, and provide for a permanent facility to store, spent nuclear fuel pursuant to the terms of the 1983 spent fuel and high-level waste disposal contracts between the Yankee Companies and the DOE. The court previously awarded the Yankee Companies damages for Phases I, II, III and IV of litigation resulting from the DOE's failure to meet its contractual obligations. These Phases covered damages incurred in the years 1998 through 2016, and the awarded damages have been received by the Yankee Companies with certain amounts of the damages refunded to their customers.

DOE Phase V Damages - On March 25, 2021, each of the Yankee Companies filed a fifth set of lawsuits against the DOE in the Court of Federal Claims. The Yankee Companies are calculating and will be seeking monetary damages for CYAPC, YAEC and MYAPC, resulting from the DOE's failure to begin accepting spent nuclear fuel for disposal covering the years from 2017 to 2020 (DOE Phase V).

Four separate complaints were filed at the FERC by combinations of New England state attorneys general, state regulatory commissions, consumer advocates, consumer groups, municipal parties and other parties (collectively, the Complainants). In each of the first three complaints, filed on October 1, 2011, December 27, 2012, and July 31, 2014, respectively, the Complainants challenged the NETOs' base ROE of 11.14 percent that had been utilized since 2005 and sought an order to reduce it prospectively from the date of the final FERC order and for the separate 15-month complaint periods. In the fourth complaint, filed April 29, 2016, the Complainants challenged the NETOs' base ROE billed of 10.57 percent and the maximum ROE for transmission incentive (incentive cap) of 11.74 percent, asserting that these ROEs were unjust and unreasonable.

The ROE originally billed during the period October 1, 2011 (beginning of the first complaint period) through October 15, 2014 consisted of a base ROE of 11.14 percent and incentives up to 13.1 percent. On October 16, 2014, the FERC set the base ROE at 10.57 percent and the incentive cap at 11.74 percent for the first complaint period. This was also effective for all prospective billings to customers beginning October 16, 2014. This FERC order was vacated on April 14, 2017 by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit (the Court).

All amounts associated with the first complaint period have been refunded, which totaled $38.9 million (pre-tax and excluding interest) at Eversource and reflected both the base ROE and incentive cap prescribed by the FERC order. The refund consisted of $22.4 million for CL&P, $13.7 million for NSTAR Electric and $2.8 million for PSNH.

Eversource has recorded a reserve of $39.1 million (pre-tax and excluding interest) for the second complaint period as of June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020. This reserve represents the difference between the billed rates during the second complaint period and a 10.57 percent base ROE and 11.74 percent incentive cap. The reserve consisted of $21.4 million for CL&P, $14.6 million for NSTAR Electric and $3.1 million for PSNH as of June 30, 2021 and December 31, 2020.

On October 16, 2018, FERC issued an order on all four complaints describing how it intends to address the issues that were remanded by the Court. FERC proposed a new framework to determine (1) whether an existing ROE is unjust and unreasonable and, if so, (2) how to calculate a replacement ROE. Initial briefs were filed by the NETOs, Complainants and FERC Trial Staff on January 11, 2019 and reply briefs were filed on March 8, 2019. The NETOs' brief was supportive of the overall ROE methodology determined in the October 16, 2018 order provided the FERC does not change the proposed methodology or alter its implementation in a manner that has a material impact on the results.

The FERC order included illustrative calculations for the first complaint using FERC's proposed frameworks with financial data from that complaint. Those illustrative calculations indicated that for the first complaint period, for the NETOs, which FERC concludes are of average financial risk, the preliminary just and reasonable base ROE is 10.41 percent and the preliminary incentive cap on total ROE is 13.08 percent.

If the results of the illustrative calculations were included in a final FERC order for each of the complaint periods, then a 10.41 percent base ROE and a 13.08 percent incentive cap would not have a significant impact on our financial statements for all of the complaint periods. These preliminary calculations are not binding and do not represent what we believe to be the most likely outcome of a final FERC order.

On November 21, 2019, FERC issued Opinion No. 569 affecting the two pending transmission ROE complaints against the Midcontinent ISO (MISO) transmission owners, in which FERC adopted a new methodology for determining base ROEs. Various parties sought rehearing. On December 23, 2019, the NETOs filed supplementary materials in the NETOs' four pending cases to respond to this new methodology because of the uncertainty of the applicability to the NETOs’ cases.

On May 21, 2020, the FERC issued its order in Opinion No. 569-A on the rehearing of the MISO transmission owners' cases, in which FERC again changed its methodology for determining the MISO transmission owners' base ROEs. Various parties appealed the MISO transmission owners' opinion. On November 19, 2020, the FERC issued Opinion No. 569-B denying rehearing of Opinion No. 569-A and reaffirmed the methodology previously adopted in Opinion No. 569-A. The new methodology differs significantly from the methodology proposed by FERC in its October 16, 2018 order to determine the NETOs' base ROEs in its four pending cases.

Given the significant uncertainty regarding the applicability of the FERC opinions in the MISO transmission owners' two complaint cases to the NETOs' pending four complaint cases, Eversource concluded that there is no reasonable basis for a change to the reserve or recognized ROEs for any of the complaint periods at this time. As well, Eversource cannot reasonably estimate a range of any gain or loss for any of the four complaint proceedings at this time.

In 2016, the United States Attorney on behalf of the United States Army Corps of Engineers filed a civil action in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts against NSTAR Electric, HEEC, and the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (together with NSTAR Electric and HEEC, the "Defendants"). The action alleged that the Defendants failed to comply with certain permitting requirements related to the placement of the HEEC-owned electric distribution cable beneath Boston Harbor.

The parties reached a settlement pursuant to which HEEC agreed to install a new 115kV distribution cable across Boston Harbor to Deer Island, utilizing a different route, and remove portions of the existing cable. Construction of the new distribution cable was completed in August 2019, and removal of the portions of the existing cable was completed in January 2020. All issues surrounding the current permit from the United States Army Corps of Engineers are expected to be resolved, and subsequently, such litigation then dismissed with prejudice.

In August 2020, PURA opened a docket to investigate the preparation for and response to Tropical Storm Isaias by Connecticut utilities, including CL&P. On April 28, 2021, PURA issued a final decision on CL&P’s compliance with its emergency response plan that concluded CL&P failed to comply with certain storm performance standards and was imprudent in certain instances. Specifically, PURA concluded that CL&P did not satisfy the performance standards for managing its municipal liaison program, timely removing electrical hazards from blocked roads, communicating critical information to its customers, or meeting its obligation to secure adequate external contractor and mutual aid resources in a timely manner. Based on its findings, PURA ordered CL&P to adjust its future rates in a pending or future rate proceeding to reflect a monetary penalty in the form of a downward adjustment of 90 basis points in its allowed rate of return on equity (ROE), which is currently 9.25 percent. In its decision, PURA explained that additional monetary penalties and further enforcement orders pursuant to Connecticut statute would be considered in a separate proceeding that was initiated on May 6, 2021. On June 10, 2021, CL&P appealed the April 28, 2021 PURA decision.

On May 6, 2021, as part of the penalty proceeding, PURA issued a notice of violation that included an assessment of $30 million, consisting of a $28.4 million civil penalty for non-compliance with storm performance standards to be provided as credits on customer bills and a $1.6 million fine for violations of accident reporting requirements to be paid to the State of Connecticut’s general fund. On July 14, 2021, PURA issued a final decision in this penalty proceeding that included an assessment of $28.6 million, maintaining the $28.4 million performance penalty and reducing the $1.6 million fine for accident reporting to $0.2 million. PURA directed the $28.4 million performance penalty to be credited to customers on electric bills beginning on August 1, 2021 through July 31, 2022. The $28.4 million is the maximum statutory penalty amount under applicable Connecticut law in effect at the time of Tropical Storm Isaias, which is 2.5 percent of CL&P’s annual distribution revenues. Management has accrued PURA’s assessment in the first quarter of 2021. As of June 30, 2021, the liability for the assessment was recorded as a current regulatory liability on CL&P’s balance sheet and as a charge to Operations and Maintenance expense on the six months ended June 30, 2021 income statement. The after-tax earnings impact of this charge was $0.07 per share. The Company believes it has meritorious defenses and intends to vigorously defend CL&P’s position, but does not have an estimate of the ultimate outcome on CL&P’s financial position, results of operations or cash flows at this time.

The estimated annual impact of a 90 basis point ROE reduction at CL&P would be a decrease of approximately $31 million of future annual revenues and approximately $21 million of lower annual earnings. The ROE reduction would impact revenues and earnings prospectively, once new rates are established. PURA stated it intends to use its interim rate decrease proceeding that is currently pending to implement the storm-related return on equity penalty ordered in the April 28, 2021 decision, which is subject to our pending court appeal. In light of our pending court appeal, coupled with the uncertainty of how long that penalty, if implemented, would last, we cannot predict the ultimate outcome or the resulting financial impact on CL&P.