[Federal Register Volume 69, Number 167 (Monday, August 30, 2004)]
[Notices]
[Pages 52950-52951]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: E4-1960]


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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

[Release No. 35-27885]


Filings Under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, as 
Amended (``Act'')

August 24, 2004.
    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 under the Act. 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 amendment(s) is/are available for public 
inspection through the Commission's Branch 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 September 20, 2004, to the Secretary, Securities and 
Exchange Commission, Washington, DC 20549-0609, and serve a copy on the 
relevant applicant(s) and/or declarant(s) at the address(es) specified 
below. Proof of service (by affidavit or, in the case of an attorney at

[[Page 52951]]

law, by certificate) should be filed with the request. Any request for 
hearing should identify specifically the issues of facts 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 September 20, 2004, the application(s) and/or 
declaration(s), as filed or as amended, may be granted and/or permitted 
to become effective.

Northeast Utilities (70-10234)

    Northeast Utilities (``NU''), a Massachusetts business trust and 
registered holding company, 107 Selden Street, Berlin, Connecticut 
06037-5457, has filed with this Commission a declaration under section 
12(b) of the Act and rules 45 and 54.
    NU's wholly-owned public utility subsidiaries are The Connecticut 
Light and Power Company, Public Service Company of New Hampshire, and 
Western Massachusetts Electric Company. Together, these companies 
furnish retail and wholesale electric service in Connecticut, New 
Hampshire, western Massachusetts and throughout the Northeast United 
States. NU is also the parent of a number of other companies, among 
them the Northeast Utilities Service Company, a service company 
subsidiary of NU (``NUSCO'') and The Rocky River Realty Company, a non-
utility subsidiary of NU (``RRR'').
    NUSCO, a Connecticut corporation, provides centralized support 
services to NU system companies, including accounting, administrative, 
information technology, engineering, financial, legal, operational, 
planning and purchasing services. RRR, a Connecticut corporation, 
engages in real estate transactions on behalf of NU system companies, 
including entering into leases for office space utilized by various 
system companies.
    As part of normal business activities, from time to time, NUSCO and 
RRR may ask NU to provide financial or performance assurances of the 
obligations of NUSCO and of RRR to third parties. These agreements 
include contract guarantees, surety bonds and rating-contingent 
collateralization provisions. In addition, RRR may ask NU to provide 
payment and performance guarantees in connection with the real-estate 
contracting activities of RRR, including construction, acquisition and 
leasing of properties and facilities utilized by certain NU system 
companies.
    NU requests authority, for the period ending June 30, 2007 
(``Authorization Period''), to guarantee, indemnify and otherwise 
provide credit support (each, a ``Guarantee'') to NUSCO and to RRR, as 
may be appropriate or necessary in the ordinary course of the NUSCO and 
the RRR businesses, in an aggregate amount not exceed $100 million 
outstanding at any one time.
    The Guarantees may take the form of NU agreeing to guarantee, 
undertake reimbursement obligations or assume liabilities or other 
obligations with respect to or act as surety on, real estate and 
equipment leases, letters of credit, evidences of indebtedness, equity 
commitments and performance and other obligations undertaken by NUSCO 
or by RRR.
    NU specifically states that the authority requested is separate 
from the guaranty authority granted by the Commission in its order 
dated June 30, 2004 (Holding Co. Act Release No. 27868), supplemented 
July 2, 2004 (Holding Co. Act Release No. 27868A) (together, the ``NUEI 
Order''). The NUEI Order authorized, among other things, NU and NU 
Enterprises, a wholly owned non-utility subsidiary of NU, to guarantee, 
indemnify and otherwise provide credit support of up to $750 million of 
the debt or obligations of NU's non-utility subsidiaries or affiliates 
(not including NUSCO or RRR) through June 30, 2007.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management, 
pursuant to delegated authority.
Margaret H. McFarland,
Deputy Secretary.
 [FR Doc. E4-1960 Filed 8-27-04; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-P