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LEASES
12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2011
Notes To Consolidated Financial Statements [Abstract]  
Leases of Lessee Disclosure [Text Block]

LEASES

 

Various NU subsidiaries, including CL&P, PSNH and WMECO, have entered into lease agreements, some of which are capital leases, for the use of data processing and office equipment, vehicles, and office space. In addition, CL&P, PSNH and WMECO incur costs associated with leases entered into by NUSCO and RRR. These costs are included below in CL&P, PSNH and WMECO's operating lease payments charged to expense and amounts capitalized as well as future operating lease payments from 2012 through 2016 and thereafter. These amounts are eliminated on an NU consolidated basis. The provisions of these lease agreements generally contain renewal options. Certain lease agreements contain payments impacted by the commercial paper rate plus a credit spread or the consumer price index.

 

For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, rental payments made on capital leases, interest included in capital lease payments, and capital lease asset amortization were as follows:

  Rental Payments Interest Asset Amortization
(Millions of Dollars)NU CL&P PSNH NU CL&P PSNH NU CL&P PSNH
2011$ 2.7 $ 2.0 $ 0.6 $ 1.7 $ 1.5 $ 0.2 $ 1.0 $ 0.5 $ 0.4
2010  2.5   1.9   0.5   1.8   1.5   0.3   0.7   0.4   0.2
2009  2.6   1.9   0.5   1.9   1.6   0.3   0.6   0.3   0.2

For the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009, operating lease rental payments charged to expense and the capitalized portion of operating lease payments were as follows:

 

  Expensed Capitalized
(Millions of Dollars)NU CL&P PSNH WMECO NU CL&P PSNH WMECO
2011$ 8.4 $ 8.3 $ 2.1 $ 2.8 $ 1.4 $ 0.8 $ 0.1 $ 0.1
2010  11.9   10.0   2.2   2.6   4.8   3.8   0.1   0.1
2009  18.1   12.8   3.9   3.4   9.7   6.1   1.5   1.1

Future minimum rental payments to external third parties excluding executory costs, such as property taxes, state use taxes, insurance, and maintenance, under long-term noncancelable leases, as of December 31, 2011 are as follows:

 

Capital Leases        
(Millions of Dollars)NU CL&P PSNH
2012$ 3.0 $ 2.3 $ 0.6
2013  2.6   2.1   0.5
2014  2.2   1.9   0.2
2015  2.2   1.9   0.2
2016  2.0   1.9   0.1
Thereafter  9.5   9.4   -
Future minimum lease payments  21.5   19.5   1.6
Less amount representing interest  9.1   8.8   0.3
Present value of future minimum lease payments$ 12.4 $ 10.7 $ 1.3

Operating Leases           
(Millions of Dollars)NU CL&P PSNH WMECO
2012$ 7.7 $ 3.2 $ 1.2 $ 2.6
2013  6.9   2.8   1.0   2.5
2014  4.9   2.6   0.8   0.9
2015  4.3   2.6   0.8   0.5
2016  4.3   2.6   0.8   0.4
Thereafter  16.6   12.0   2.3   1.3
Future minimum lease payments$ 44.7 $ 25.8 $ 6.9 $ 8.2

CL&P entered into certain contracts for the purchase of energy that qualify as leases. These contracts do not have minimum lease payments and therefore are not included in the tables above. However, such contracts have been included in the contractual obligations table in Note 12B, "Commitments and Contingencies - Long-Term Contractual Arrangements," to the consolidated financial statements.