DF 98-196
Montaup Electric Company, Inc
Petition for Approval of Transfer of Interest in Seabrook Station
Order Adopting Procedural Schedule and Granting Motions to
Intervene
O R D E R N O. 23,112
January 25, 1999
APPEARANCES: Orr and Reno, by Howard M. Moffett, Esq.
and Connie L. Rakwosky, Esq., and David A. Fazzone, Esq. for
Montaup Electric Company, Inc., McLane, Graf, Raulerson and
Middleton by Steven V. Camerino, Esq. and Richard A. Samuels,
Esq. for Little Bay Power Company, Inc.; Gerald M. Eaton, Esq.
for Public Service company of New Hampshire, Connecticut Light
and Power company, Inc., North Atlantic Energy Company, Inc. and
North Atlantic Energy Service Company, Inc.; Carlos A. Gavilando,
Esq. for New England Power Company, Inc. and Eugene F. Sullivan
III, Esq. for the Staff of the New Hampshire Public Utilities
Commission.
I. PROCEDURAL HISTORY
On November 5, 1998, Montaup Electric Company, Inc.
(Montaup) filed with the New Hampshire Public Utilities
Commission (Commission) a Petition for Approval of the Transfer
of its Interest in Seabrook Station under RSA 374:30. See, RSA
374-A. Montaup is a Massachusetts corporation wholly owned by
Eastern Edison Company, which in turn is wholly owned by Eastern
Utilities Associates (EUA), a Massachusetts business trust and a
registered public utility holding company under the Public
Utility Holding Company Act of 1935. Montaup is EUA's power
supply subsidiary, and it generates or purchases virtually all of
the electric power needed to serve the customers of EUA's retail
distribution subsidiaries in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
Montaup is one of eleven Joint Owners of Seabrook
Station (Seabrook), a nuclear generating facility located in
Seabrook, New Hampshire. Montaup is a "public utility" within
the meaning of RSA 362:2, in that it owns plant and equipment
used in the generation and transmission of electricity ultimately
sold to the public. Montaup owns an undivided 2.89989% interest
in Seabrook and a corresponding entitlement to 2.89989% of the
electric power produced at the facility. Other than its
ownership interest in Seabrook, Montaup owns no utility property
in New Hampshire, nor does it conduct any operations in this
state as an electric utility or otherwise.
Under a June 24, 1998 Asset Purchase Agreement, Montaup
agreed to sell its Seabrook interest to Great Bay Power
Corporation (Great Bay). Great Bay assigned its rights under the
Asset Purchase Agreement to its affiliate Little Bay Power
Corporation (Little Bay) on August 28, 1998. In its petition,
Montaup proposes, pursuant to industry restructuring settlement
agreements in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, to transfer its
interest in Seabrook to Little Bay. Little Bay and Great Bay are
both New Hampshire corporations wholly owned by BayCorp Holdings,
Ltd. As a condition of the sale, Montaup is to prefund the
entire decommissioning cost as established by the Nuclear
Decommissioning Finance Committee associated with its 2.89989%
ownership interest.
By Order of Notice dated December 3, 1998 the
Commission scheduled a prehearing conference for December 28,
1998, to address motions to intervene and to establish a
procedural schedule to govern its investigation into the proposed
transfer.
On November 30, 1998 Little Bay Power Corporation filed
a Petition to Intervene. On November 30, 1998 North Atlantic
Energy Company, Inc., Connecticut Light and Power Company, Inc.
and Public Service Company of New Hampshire, Inc. filed an
Assented to Motion for Limited Intervention. On December 21,
1998, New England Power Company, Inc. filed a Motion to
Intervene.
On December 31, 1998, New Hampshire counsel for Montaup
filed a Motion to Appear Pro Hac Vice on behalf of David A.
Fazzone, Esq.
II. POSITIONS OF THE PARTIES AND STAFF
Montaup stated that it believed the proposed transfer
was in the public interest because it would allow its
distribution affiliates in Massachusetts and Rhode Island to
implement the requirements of those states to divest themselves
and their affiliates of any interest in generating facilities.
Little Bay supported this position.
The Office of the Consumer Advocate and Staff expressed
an interest in the financial viability of Little Bay following
the transaction because of the potential exposure of other New
Hampshire ratepayers for Seabrook decommissioning expenses and
operating expenses.
Following the prehearing conference, the parties and
Staff agreed to the following procedural schedule to govern the
Commission's investigation into the proposed transfer:
Responses to oral data requests. January 8, 1999
Written data requests. January 15, 1999
Responses to written data requests. January 22, 1999
Technical session/settlement conference. January 28, 1999
Hearing in the event of Settlement. February 9, 1999
In the event there is no settlement among the parties and Staff
they agreed to the following additions to the procedural
schedule:
Prefiled testimony. February 9, 1999
Data requests. February 16, 1999
Data responses. February 23, 1999
Hearing March 3, 1999, and
March 4, 1999
III. COMMISSION ANALYSIS
There were no objections to the petitions to intervene
and they will be granted. The procedural schedule appears
reasonable and will be accepted. The Motion to Appear Pro Hac
Vice asserts that Mr. Fazzone practices with the law firm of
McDermott, Will & Emery that he is a member in good standing of
the Massachusetts and New York bars and that he has familiarized
himself with the Commission's procedural rules. Based on these
representations we will grant the motion pursuant to the
standards set forth in RSA 365:10-a.
Based upon the foregoing, it is hereby
ORDERED, that Little Bay Power Corporation's, and New
England Power Company, Inc.'s Petitions to Intervene are GRANTED;
and it is
FURTHER ORDERED, that North Atlantic Energy Company,
Inc.'s, Connecticut Light and Power Company, Inc.'s and Public
Service Company of New Hampshire, Inc.'s Assented to Petition
for Limited Intervention is GRANTED; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED, the procedural schedule set forth
above is APPROVED; and it is
FURTHER ORDERED, that the Motion to Appear
Pro Hac Vice filed on behalf of David A. Fazzone, Esq. is
GRANTED.
By order of the Public Utilities Commission of New
Hampshire this twenty-fifth day of January, 1999.
Douglas L. Patch Susan S. Geiger Nancy Brockway
Chairman Commissioner Commissioner
Attested by:
Claire D. DiCicco
Assistant Secretary