Eversource Energy Annual Report (Amendment), Year Ended Dec 31, 1996

This filing is not a standard annual report but Amendment No. 1 (Form 10-K/A) to the fiscal 1996 Form 10-K, submitted June 11, 1998 jointly by Northeast Utilities (NU, ticker ES in the request), The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P), Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH), and Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO).

Its purpose is to restate accounting for nuclear compliance costs after an SEC inquiry dated March 25, 1998. The SEC's position is that unavoidable incremental costs of current nuclear outages, and procedures required before reactor restart under NRC requirements, should be expensed as incurred rather than reserved in advance. NU and its auditor Arthur Andersen LLP had believed the prior accounting complied with GAAP, but the company agreed to adjust its accounting and amend its 1996 and 1997 Form 10-K filings.

For investors, the key point is that this amendment does not contain new financial statements in the document itself. Items 6, 7, 8 and 14 (selected financial data, MD&A, financial statements, and exhibits) are incorporated by reference from the amended 1997 Form 10-K/As, which reflect the restated accounting. The restatement changes the timing of expense recognition for nuclear outage costs, shifting them from prior reserve-based accruals toward expensing as incurred, which can affect reported earnings in the periods involved.

The excerpt provided does not quantify the dollar impact, so investors should consult the referenced 1997 amended filings for the specific effects on earnings, reserves, and balance sheet figures. The filing also provides useful context on the capital structure and market profile of the registrants. As of May 29, 1998, 136,886,368 NU common shares were outstanding, with a non-affiliate market value of approximately $2.18 billion^a at a closing price of $15.94 per share.

NU holds all common stock of CL&P, PSNH and WMECO. CL&P has multiple preferred stock series listed on the NYSE, including 9.3%^b Cumulative Monthly Income Preferred Securities issued through CL&P Capital, L.P. The main investor concern arising from this filing is the regulatory and accounting scrutiny of nuclear operations and the resulting earnings restatement, which may signal governance and reporting-quality risk.