[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