P.M. BRIEFING : Ruling Perils N.H. Utility Sale
In a ruling that could derail a plan by a Connecticut utility to take over Public Service Co. of New Hampshire, a judge late Monday overturned a $500-million bond issue that was to have partially financed the deal.
Northeast Utilities of Berlin, Conn., is taking over PSNH in a $2.3-billion plan to bring the New Hampshire utility out of bankruptcy. The plan is to be partially financed through the sale of pollution control bonds, about half of them tax-exempt, issued through the state’s Industrial Development Authority.
PSNH is the lead owner of the Seabrook nuclear power plant, and the bonds would nominally finance pollution control projects at Seabrook.
But the bond issue was challenged in a lawsuit by Robert Cushing of the Campaign for Ratepayers Rights and other Seabrook opponents, who charged that the IDA was misusing its authority by approving bonds that would actually be used to finance a corporate takeover.
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