Share-based compensation awards are recorded using a fair-value-based method at the date of grant. Eversource, CL&P, NSTAR Electric, PSNH and WMECO record compensation expense related to these awards, as applicable, for shares issued or sold to their respective employees and officers, as well as for the allocation of costs associated with shares issued or sold to Eversource's service company employees and officers that support CL&P, NSTAR Electric, PSNH and WMECO.

Eversource Incentive Plans: Eversource maintains long-term equity-based incentive plans in which Eversource, CL&P, NSTAR Electric, PSNH and WMECO employees, officers and board members are eligible to participate. The incentive plans authorize Eversource to grant up to 8,000,000 new shares for various types of awards, including RSUs and performance shares, to eligible employees, officers, and board members. As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, Eversource had 3,005,010 and 3,112,020 common shares, respectively, available for issuance under these plans.

RSUs: Eversource granted RSUs under the annual long-term incentive programs that are subject to three-year graded vesting schedules for employees, and one-year graded vesting schedules, or immediate vesting, for board members. RSUs are paid in shares, reduced by amounts sufficient to satisfy withholdings for income taxes, subsequent to vesting. A summary of RSU transactions is as follows:

			Weighted Average
	RSUs		Grant-Date
	(Units)		Fair Value
Outstanding as of December 31, 2014		1,380,747	$	35.67
Granted		266,230	$	54.57
Shares issued		(888,495)	$	33.94
Forfeited		(29,174)	$	46.68
Outstanding as of December 31, 2015		729,308	$	43.45

The weighted average grant-date fair value of RSUs granted for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was $54.57, $42.27 and $39.56, respectively. As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, the number and weighted average grant-date fair value of unvested RSUs was 469,772 and $48.58 per share, and 1,024,729 and $38.14 per share, respectively. During 2015, there were 784,376 RSUs at a weighted average grant-date fair value of $37.21 per share that vested and were either paid or deferred. As of December 31, 2015, 259,536 RSUs were fully vested and deferred and an additional 446,283 are expected to vest.

Performance Shares: Eversource granted performance shares under the annual long-term incentive programs that vest based upon the extent to which Company goals are achieved at the end of three-year performance measurement periods. Performance shares are paid in shares, after the performance measurement period. A summary of performance share transactions is as follows:

	Performance		Weighted Average
	Shares		Grant-Date
	(Units)		Fair Value
Outstanding as of December 31, 2014		375,644	$	42.20
Granted		172,543	$	55.04
Shares issued		(4,604)	$	42.23
Forfeited		(15,155)	$	45.33
Outstanding as of December 31, 2015		528,428	$	46.30

The weighted average grant-date fair value of Performance Shares granted for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 was $55.04, $43.40 and $40.96, respectively. As of December 31, 2015, all outstanding performance shares are unvested.

The total compensation expense and associated future income tax benefits recognized by Eversource, CL&P, NSTAR Electric, PSNH and WMECO for share-based compensation awards were as follows:

Eversource	For the Years Ended December 31,
(Millions of Dollars)	2015		2014		2013
Compensation Expense	$	23.1	$	24.6	$	27.0
Future Income Tax Benefit		9.4		10.3		10.7

	For the Years Ended December 31,
	2015								2014								2013
			NSTAR								NSTAR								NSTAR
(Millions of Dollars)	CL&P		Electric		PSNH		WMECO		CL&P		Electric		PSNH		WMECO		CL&P		Electric		PSNH		WMECO
Compensation Expense	$	9.3	$	5.8	$	3.2	$	1.7	$	8.1	$	7.4	$	3.0	$	1.3	$	6.8	$	7.5	$	2.3	$	1.3
Future Income Tax Benefit		3.8		2.4		1.3		0.7		3.4		3.1		1.3		0.5		2.7		3.0		0.9		0.5

As of December 31, 2015, there was $14.9 million of total unrecognized compensation expense related to nonvested share-based awards for Eversource, including $6.1 million for CL&P, $3.8 million for NSTAR Electric, $2.2 million for PSNH and $1.2 million for WMECO. This cost is expected to be recognized ratably over a weighted-average period of 1.74 years for Eversource, and 1.73 years for each CL&P, NSTAR Electric, PSNH and WMECO.

For each of the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, changes in excess tax benefits totaling $9.5 million increased cash flows from financing activities. For the year ended December 31, 2013, changes in excess tax benefits totaling $5.5 million decreased cash flows from financing activities.

Stock Options: Stock options currently outstanding were granted under the NSTAR Incentive Plan, expire ten years from the date of grant and are fully vested. The weighted average remaining contractual lives for the options outstanding as of December 31, 2015 is 2.6 years. A summary of stock option transactions is as follows:

		Weighted Average		Intrinsic Value
	Options	Exercise Price		(Millions)
Outstanding and Exercisable - December 31, 2014	351,616	$	26.69	$	9.4
Exercised	(179,744)	$	26.90	$	4.4
Outstanding and Exercisable - December 31, 2015	171,872	$	26.47	$	4.2

Cash received for options exercised during the year ended December 31, 2015 totaled $4.8 million. The tax benefit realized from stock options exercised totaled $1.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Employee Share Purchase Plan: Eversource maintained an ESPP for eligible employees, which allowed for Eversource common shares to be purchased by employees at the end of successive six-month offering periods at 95 percent of the closing market price on the last day of each six-month period. Employees were permitted to purchase shares having a value not exceeding 25 percent of their compensation as of the beginning of the offering period up to a specified limit. The ESPP qualified as a non-compensatory plan under accounting guidance for share-based payments, and no compensation expense was recorded for ESPP purchases.

During 2015, employees purchased 33,715 shares at discounted prices of $52.80 and $47.23. Employees purchased 40,779 shares in 2014 at discounted prices of $41.61 and $41.71. As of December 31, 2015 and 2014, 743,260 and 776,975 shares, respectively, remained available for future issuance under the ESPP. The ESPP ended as of February 1, 2016.

An income tax rate of 40 percent is used to estimate the tax effect on total share-based payments determined under the fair value-based method for all awards. The Company generally settles stock option exercises and fully vested RSUs and performance shares with the issuance of common shares purchased in the open market.