Eversource Energy is the largest electric and gas utility in New England, serving approximately 4.4 million customers across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. The company operates regulated electric distribution utilities in all three states, natural gas distribution in Connecticut and Massachusetts, and a water utility (Aquarion Water Company) across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. Eversource was formed from the 2012 merger of Northeast Utilities and NSTAR, and adopted the Eversource name in 2015.
The company is led by President and CEO Joe Nolan, who has been with Eversource and its predecessor Northeast Utilities since 1985 and became CEO in May 2021. Under Nolan, the company made and then exited a major bet on offshore wind development, a roughly three-year episode that resulted in approximately $2.5 billion in after-tax write-downs and divestiture losses and consumed significant management attention before the full exit was completed in late 2024. Eversource is now a pure-play regulated utility.
The company's regulatory geography presents meaningfully different environments across its three states. Massachusetts has historically been a constructive jurisdiction. New Hampshire has been more contentious at times but workable. Connecticut has been the most difficult, with Eversource describing the Connecticut regulatory environment as "challenging" and "uncertain" and announcing a $500 million reduction in planned Connecticut capital expenditures over five years in response to unfavorable outcomes from the state's Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA).
Eversource distributes electricity to approximately 3.7 million customers under four operating utilities: Connecticut Light and Power (CL&P), NSTAR Electric (eastern Massachusetts including the Boston area), Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH), and Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO). Each operates as a regulated wires-only distribution company, owning the poles, wires, and substations that deliver power from the transmission grid to end customers. Revenue is set through rate cases at the state commission level. CL&P serves approximately 1.3 million customers across most of Connecticut. NSTAR Electric serves roughly 1.4 million customers in 140 communities in eastern and central Massachusetts. PSNH is New Hampshire's largest electric utility, serving over 500,000 customers across 211 cities and towns.
Eversource owns and operates transmission infrastructure across New England, carrying high-voltage electricity from generation sources to local distribution systems. The transmission business is regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) rather than state commissions, which generally provides more predictable cost recovery than state-level regulation. The approximately $10.8 billion transmission rate base earns a FERC-allowed return on equity and is one of the more stable earnings contributors in the portfolio. Eversource has been investing in transmission upgrades to support renewable energy interconnection and grid reliability across the ISO-New England footprint.
Eversource distributes natural gas in Connecticut through Yankee Gas Services Company and in Massachusetts through NSTAR Gas. Together, the gas utilities serve approximately 600,000 customers. The company also owns Aquarion Water Company, acquired in 2017, which serves approximately 236,000 customer accounts across Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire. In January 2025, Eversource announced the sale of Aquarion to the Aquarion Water Authority and Unitil, a divestiture expected to sharpen the company's focus on electric and gas utility operations. Gas segment earnings grew meaningfully in FY2024, up from $224.8 million in FY2023 to $291.0 million, driven by base distribution rate increases in Massachusetts.
From roughly 2016 through 2024, Eversource pursued a major offshore wind development strategy in partnership with Danish developer Ørsted. The company held 50% stakes in three large projects: South Fork Wind (132 MW, off Long Island), Revolution Wind (704 MW, off Rhode Island and Connecticut), and Sunrise Wind (924 MW, off New York). At its peak, the portfolio represented one of the largest offshore wind development positions held by a U.S. utility. The strategic logic was that Eversource, as the dominant utility across the New England states where offshore wind would be built, was well-positioned to develop and own generating assets that would eventually serve its own distribution customers.
The strategy unraveled between 2022 and 2024 as the U.S. offshore wind industry was hit by a combination of supply chain disruptions, rapid cost inflation for steel and equipment, and rising interest rates that repriced the economics of long-term fixed-price power purchase agreements signed when costs were much lower. The decisive blow for Sunrise Wind came in October 2023, when the New York Public Service Commission rejected Eversource's and Ørsted's petition to increase the contracted offtake price to reflect higher development costs. Without that price relief, the project's economics were unworkable.
Eversource recorded approximately $1.95 billion in after-tax impairment charges on the offshore wind portfolio during 2023, including a $331 million charge in Q2 and a $1.62 billion charge in Q4. The company then exited all three positions in 2024: it sold its 50% stakes in South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) for approximately $745 million in adjusted gross proceeds, and sold its 50% stake in Sunrise Wind back to Ørsted for $152 million. The divestiture process added a further approximately $520 million net loss recorded in Q3 2024, bringing total after-tax charges related to the offshore wind episode to roughly $2.5 billion. The full exit was completed in October 2024.
The offshore wind episode is consequential beyond the write-downs. It contributed to a rise in long-term debt as the company funded development spending, required management attention that competed with running the regulated utility business, and damaged Eversource's relationship with Connecticut regulators who had expected the company to be a major driver of offshore wind in the state's clean energy transition. The exit clarified that Eversource is a transmission and distribution company, not a generation developer, and the company's $24.2 billion five-year capital plan is entirely oriented toward regulated T&D infrastructure.
FY2024 revenue was $11.9 billion, essentially flat compared to $11.9 billion in FY2023. GAAP net income was $811.7 million ($2.27 per share), a sharp recovery from a GAAP net loss of $442.2 million (-$1.26 per share) in FY2023, which had been dominated by the offshore wind impairments. Adjusted (non-GAAP) recurring earnings were $1,634.0 million ($4.57 per share) in FY2024, up 5.3% from $1,517.7 million ($4.34 per share) in FY2023. The adjusted figures strip out the offshore wind charges and divestiture gains/losses and are the basis for the company's ongoing earnings guidance; FY2025 adjusted EPS guidance is $4.67 to $4.82.
The earnings improvement in the regulated businesses was driven by base distribution rate increases in Massachusetts and New Hampshire electric operations and higher natural gas distribution revenues. These gains were partly offset by higher depreciation, property taxes, operations and maintenance costs, and interest expense as the company carries approximately $26.9 billion in long-term debt. The debt-to-equity ratio of approximately 1.94x is elevated relative to the regulated utility sector median, a consequence of years of capital investment in both the T&D businesses and the now-divested offshore wind positions.
Segment earnings in FY2024 were $631.7 million for electric distribution (up from $608.0 million in FY2023) and $291.0 million for natural gas distribution (up from $224.8 million). Electric transmission is the third major earnings contributor, with a rate base of approximately $10.8 billion earning a FERC-allowed return. The company's ability to grow adjusted EPS at a mid-single-digit rate depends on rate base growth in the regulated businesses and constructive rate case outcomes, particularly in Connecticut, where the regulatory relationship has deteriorated.
With the offshore wind exit complete, Eversource's strategy is straightforward: invest heavily in regulated electric and gas T&D infrastructure, earn allowed returns through constructive rate cases, and grow adjusted EPS at a mid-single-digit pace consistent with a large New England utility serving a region with modest organic load growth. The $24.2 billion five-year capital plan (2025 through 2029) represents a 10% increase over the prior plan and is concentrated in grid modernization, reliability upgrades, and clean energy interconnection capacity for solar and wind projects connecting to the ISO-New England grid.
The central execution challenge is the Connecticut regulatory environment. PURA has been slow to approve storm cost recovery, has implemented performance-based regulation mechanisms that introduce earnings risk, and its decisions have been described by Eversource management as "unreasonable" and "arbitrary." The company has responded by reducing planned Connecticut capital investment by $500 million over five years, which reduces rate base growth in that jurisdiction. Repairing the regulatory relationship in Connecticut, or at least stabilizing it, is necessary for the company to execute its capital plan at full scale. The pending rate case seeking a $503 million increase in Connecticut electric rates will be an important test of whether the relationship has stabilized.
Connecticut remains the primary regulatory risk. PURA's handling of storm cost recovery, performance-based regulation, and rate cases has created material uncertainty around Eversource's ability to earn its allowed return in its largest electric distribution jurisdiction. Connecticut Light and Power serves approximately 1.3 million customers and is a significant earnings contributor. If the regulatory relationship continues to deteriorate, capital deployment into Connecticut will be further curtailed, reducing rate base growth and long-term earnings potential in that state.
The debt load is a second persistent constraint. With approximately $26.9 billion in long-term debt and a debt-to-equity ratio roughly twice the industry median, Eversource has limited balance sheet flexibility relative to peers. Continued borrowing to fund the $24.2 billion capital plan will add to this load, and the company is issuing debt at coupons in the 4.65% to 5.40% range as of 2024, which adds to interest expense. Credit rating management is a binding constraint on capital allocation. On the upside, New England's energy infrastructure is aging and the region's clean energy mandates create a durable long-term investment backdrop, and Eversource's pure-play T&D positioning is clear after the offshore wind exit.
This profile was compiled from publicly available information including:
Eversource Energy Investor Relations — Earnings releases, SEC filings (10-K, 10-Q), and investor presentations.
Eversource Energy corporate website — Business overview, subsidiary information, and service territory data.
FY2024 Annual Report (Form 10-K), Q4 2024 earnings release (February 11, 2025), offshore wind exit press releases (Business Wire, Q3 and Q4 2024).
This profile is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice, a recommendation, or a solicitation to buy or sell any security.