[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 199 (Friday, October 11, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 53468-53469]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-26130]
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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 35-26587]
Filings Under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, as
Amended (``Act'')
October 4, 1996.
Notice is hereby given that the following filing(s) has/have been
made with the Commission pursuant to provisions of the Act and rules
promulgated thereunder. All interested persons are referred to the
application(s) and/or declaration(s) for complete statements of the
proposed transaction(s) summarized below. The application(s) and/or
declaration(s) and any amendments thereto is/are available for public
inspection through the Commission's Office of Public Reference.
Interested persons wishing to comment or request a hearing on the
application(s) and/or declaration(s) should submit their views in
writing by October 28, 1996, to the Secretary, Securities and Exchange
Commission, Washington, D.C. 20549, and serve a copy on the relevant
applicant(s) and/or
[[Page 53469]]
declarant(s) at the address(es) specified below. Proof of service (by
affidavit or, in case of an attorney at law, by certificate) should be
filed with the request. Any request for hearing shall identify
specifically the issues of fact or law that are disputed. A person who
so requests will be notified of any hearing, if ordered, and will
receive a copy of any notice or order issued in the matter. After said
date, the application(s) and/or declaration(s), as filed or as amended,
may be granted and/or permitted to become effective.
Northeast Utilities, et al. (70-8507)
Northeast Utilities (``NU''), 174 Brush Hill Avenue, West
Springfield, Massachusetts 01089, a registered holding company, and its
wholly owned subsidiary companies, Charter Oak Energy, Inc. (``Charter
Oak'') and COE Development Corporation (``COE Development''), both
located at 107 Seldon Street, Berlin, Connecticut 06037, (collectively,
``Applicants'') have filed a post-effective amendment to its
application-declaration under sections 6(a), 7, 9(a), 10, 12(b), 13(b),
32 and 33 of the Act and rules 45, 53, 83, 86, 87, 90 and 91
thereunder.
By orders dated December 30, 1994 (HCAR No. 26213) and August 7,
1995 (HCAR No. 26345) (collectively, ``Orders''), the Commission
authorized NU, among other things, to invest directly in Charter Oak
and indirectly in COE Development up to an aggregate principal amount
of $400 million through December 31, 1996. In addition, the Applicants
were authorized: (1) to form intermediate subsidiary companies
(``Intermediate Companies'') to acquire an interest in, finance the
acquisition and hold the securities of exempt wholesale generators, as
defined by section 32 of the Act (``EWGs''), and foreign utility
companies, as defined by section 33 of the Act (``FUCOs''), through the
issuance of equity securities and debt securities to third parties; (2)
for Intermediate Companies to make partial sales of qualifying
cogeneration and small power production facilities as defined in the
Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (``QF''), independent
power production facilities that would constitute a part of NU's
``integrated public utility system'' within the meaning of Section
2(a)(29)(A) of the Act, EWGs and FUCOs (``Exempt Projects''); (3) to
participate in joint ventures engaged exclusively in Exempt Project
activities and to dissolve Intermediate Companies under specified
circumstances; and (4) for Charter Oak's employees and employees of
other NU service companies to provide a de minimis amount of services
to affiliated Intermediate Companies, EWGs (both foreign and domestic)
and FUCOs. To date, NU has invested approximately $70 million in
Charter Oak and expects to invest an additional $60 million through
December 31, 1996.
The Applicants now propose to extend their period of authorization
to invest the remaining $330 million of funding authority through
December 31, 1999, substantially, under the terms and conditions set
forth in the Orders. However, the Applicants request certain
modifications to their existing authority as it relates to: (1) The
number of service company and NU system employees engaged in rendering
services to affiliated Intermediate Companies, and Exempt Projects; and
(2) the provision of services at fair market prices to other
Intermediate Companies and associated Exempt Projects under certain
circumstances.
The Commission, pursuant to the Orders, authorized Charter Oak
employees (who are employees of NU Service Company) or other NU Service
Company employees (collectively, ``Service Company Employees'') to
provide a de minimis amount of services to affiliated Intermediate
Companies, EWGs (both foreign and domestic) and FUCOs, subject to
certain limitations.\1\ The Applicants now request that the total
number of Service Company Employees engaged in rendering services to
affiliated Intermediate Companies and Exempt Projects may not exceed,
in the aggregate, 1% of the total NU system employees and no more than
2% of the total of Service Company Employees at any one time.
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\1\ The Orders provide that, unless otherwise authorized by the
Commission or expressly permitted under the Act, the total number of
Service Company Employees engaged in rendering services to
affiliated Intermediate Companies and Exempt Projects may not
exceed, in the aggregate, 0.5% of the total NU holding company
system's employees and no more than 1% of the total of Service
Company Employees at any one time.
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The Applicants were also authorized, under the Orders, to provide
the above-mentioned service activities at market rates to affiliated
foreign EWGs, foreign Intermediate Companies and FUCOs, which are
companies that do not derive, directly or indirectly, any material part
of their income from sources within the United States and are not
public-utility companies operating in the United States. The Applicants
now request an exemption from the ``at cost'' provisions of section
13(b) and the requirements of rules 90 and 91 under the following
specific conditions: (1) Such associate is a FUCO or an EWG which
derives no part of its income, directly or indirectly, from the
generation, transmission, or distribution of electric energy for sale
within the United States; (2) such associate is an EWG which sells
electricity at market-based rates which have been approved by the FERC
or the appropriate state public utility commission, provided the
purchaser of such electricity is not an associate of NU within the NU
system; (3) such associate is a QF that sells electricity to industrial
or commercial customers, for their own use, at negotiated rates or to
electric utility companies that are not associated with the NU system,
at the purchasers avoided cost; (4) such associate is an EWG that sells
electricity at rates based upon its cost of service, as approved by the
FERC or any state public utility commission, provided that the
purchaser of such electricity is not an associate of NU within the NU
System; or (5) such associate is an Intermediate Company, the sole
business of which is developing, owning and/or operating FUCOs or EWGs
described in clauses 1, 2 or 4 above.
The Commission, pursuant to the Orders, further authorized the
Intermediate Companies to issue equity securities and debt securities.
The Applicants propose that the Intermediate Companies continue to
issue equity securities and debt securities, with or without recourse
to the Applicants, up to an aggregate principal amount of $600 million,
to persons other than the Applicants including banks, insurance
companies, and other financial institutions, exclusively for the
purpose of financing investments in Exempt Projects. Within the $600
million authorization, the aggregate principal amount of recourse debt
will not exceed $150 million at any one time outstanding. The resource
to the Applicants will be in the form of guarantees and assumptions of
liability and will be included within the Applicants overall investment
authorization limit of $400 million.
For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management,
pursuant to delegated authority.
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-26130 Filed 10-10-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-M
