Eversource to sell New Hampshire hydro, fossil fuel plants

Dive Brief:

In a filing with the New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission on Thursday, Eversource New Hampshire said it has plans to sell its remaining power generation resources for a total of $258 million.
Eversource is selling five fossil fuel plants totaling 1,130 MW to Granite Shore Power, an equal partnership of Atlas Holdings and Castleton Commodities International for $175 million.
Eversource is selling nine hydroelectric stations totaling 68 MW to Hull Street Energy, a private equity firm based in Bethesda, Maryland, for $83 million. Under the sale agreement, the new owners must keep the generating plants in service for at least 18 months.

Dive Insight:

Eversource’s sale announcement comes out of settlement agreement with New Hampshire’s PUC, and is a final step toward deregulating the power market that began 20 years ago. Last year, the PUC ordered Eversource to sell off its power plants in hopes it would lower power prices in the long-term, the Union Leader reports. The order also approved a settlement that allowed Eversource to shed its generation assets through an auction.

One of the issues in the settlement resolved is how to handle the recovery in ratebase for pollution control equipment at the utility’s Merrimack plant. Under the agreement, Eversource will forego $25 million related Merrimack scrubber costs. Eversource also agreed to provide $5 million from shareholders to establish a Clean Energy Fund.

The sales, which still require PUC approval, are expected to close in December or in early 2018. The sale will make the transition of New Hampshire into a fully deregulated state. At that point, the plants would sell power into the New England wholesale power market, and Eversource would buy power from that market.

“Our generation plants have proven valuable to New Hampshire customers for many years, especially during times of extreme cold or heat when additional sources of power have been needed to help meet demand. Now, we will join other utilities across New England in obtaining energy for our customers from the competitive regional wholesale energy market,” Eversource NH President Bill Quinlan, said in a statement.