SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549-1004
FORM 8-K
CURRENT REPORT
Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934
Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported) April 27, 1999
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Commission File Number 1-5324
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NORTHEAST UTILITIES
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(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
MASSACHUSETTS 04-2147929
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(State or other jurisdiction of (I.R.S. Employer
incorporation or organization) Identification No.)
174 BRUSH HILL AVENUE, WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS 01090-0010
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(Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)
(413) 785-5871
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(Registrant's telephone number, including area code)
Not Applicable
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(Former name or former address, if changed since last report)
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
On March 11, 1999, Fish Unlimited, along with several other parties,
brought a civil environmental lawsuit in Connecticut Superior Court against
Northeast Nuclear Electric Company (NNECO) and Northeast Utilities Service
Company, two service company subsidiaries of Northeast Utilities (NU),
seeking temporary and permanent injunctions to prevent the restart of the
Millstone 2 nuclear unit (Millstone 2) until a fish return system and cooling
towers are installed. The plaintiffs claim that these facilities are needed
to mitigate the effect of Millstone 2 on winter flounder and the environment
in general.
On April 20, 1999, the plaintiffs requested a temporary restraining
order to prevent Millstone 2 from resuming operations until at least June 15,
1999 when the winter flounder larvae migration season is over. On April 27,
1999, the court granted the plaintiffs' request and issued a temporary
restraining order, prohibiting the defendants from restarting the unit until
further order of the court. The proceedings on the temporary injunction are
ongoing.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission notified NNECO on April 29, 1999 that
it could restart Millstone 2. Restart, however, cannot commence until the
temporary restraining order is lifted and restart is not otherwise
prohibited.
Millstone 2 is owned 81-percent by The Connecticut Light and Power
Company (CL&P) and 19-percent by Western Massachusetts Electric Company
(WMECO), each of which are wholly owned subsidiaries of NU. The continuing
outage of Millstone 2 is estimated to cost approximately $6.6 million a month
in noncash revenues to CL&P as a result of the Connecticut Department of
Public Utility Control's February 5, 1999 rate decision and $8 million a
month for replacement power ($7 million for CL&P and $1 million for WMECO).
The companies also could incur additional operation and maintenance expenses
related to the delayed restart.
For more information regarding this matter, see "Item 1. Business -
Rates - Connecticut Retail Rates" and "- Nuclear Plant Performance and
Regulatory Oversight" in NU's 1998 Annual Report on Form 10-K.
SIGNATURE
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the
Registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the
undersigned hereunto duly authorized.
NORTHEAST UTILITIES
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Registrant
Date April 29, 1999 By /s/John H. Forsgren
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John H. Forsgren
Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
