On 3/4/11, NU shareholders voted to approve the merger between NU and NSTAR and to adopt additional proposals related to the merger. At the special meeting of NU shareholders, about 98% of the shares that were voted were cast in favor of adopting the merger agreement and plan of merger between the two companies. Approval was required by two-thirds of NU’s approximately 176 million outstanding shares. Approximately 140 million shares were voted in favor of the merger, including more than 90% percent of shares owned by employees and retirees. NU shareholders also voted to authorize the issuance of additional NU shares needed to complete the merger and in favor of fixing NU’s number of trustees at 14. NSTAR shareholders also approved the merger on 3/4/11.

On 3/10/11, the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities (DPU) issued an order on the standard of review to be applied in the review of mergers involving Massachusetts utilities in DPU 10-170, Joint Petition for Approval of Merger between NSTAR and Northeast Utilities, pursuant to G.L. c. 164, Section 96. Applicable state law provides that mergers of Massachusetts utilities and their respective holding companies must be “consistent with the public interest.” The order modifies the standard of review with respect to such mergers from a “no net harm” standard to a “net benefits” standard, meaning that the companies must demonstrate that the proposed transaction provides benefits that outweigh the costs. The order states that the DPU will continue flexibly to apply the factors established by case law and Section 96. On 3/25/11, the DPU issued a revised schedule for the merger docket calling for evidentiary hearings to begin 7/6/11.

On 3/25/11, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) held an informational session in Docket 10-12-05, its review of whether it had jurisdiction of the NU-NSTAR merger. The DPUC issued a draft decision in January 2011 which concluded that it did not have jurisdiction, but that decision has not yet been finalized. Senate Bill 1140, which would expand the DPUC’s authority over utility mergers, passed the Connecticut Legislature’s Energy and Technology Committee on 3/22/11 and awaits further action.

The New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission ruled on 4/5/11 that it did not have jurisdiction over the merger. Merger approvals are pending before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

Construction of Public Service Company of New Hampshire’s (PSNH) Clean Air Project at Merrimack Station was about 82% complete as of 3/31/11 and is projected to cost

approximately $430 million. The Project must be operational by 7/1/13, but PSNH estimates it will commence operations by the middle of 2012. PSNH expects the project, which uses scrubber technology, to reduce mercury emissions from PSNH’s coal-fired generation by at least 80% and sulfur-dioxide emissions at Merrimack by more than 90%.

Substation construction began in December 2010 on the Greater Springfield Reliability Project (GSRP), which involves the construction of 115 kV and 345 kV lines from Ludlow, MA, to Bloomfield, CT. GSRP is the largest and most complicated project within NU’s New England East-West Solution (NEEWS) family of projects and will be built by Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO) and The Connecticut Light and Power Company (CL&P). WMECO commenced overhead construction in February 2011. The $795 million project is expected to be in service by late 2013.

On 2/15/11, FERC accepted without modification the Transmission Service Agreement (TSA) signed on 10/4/10, by Northern Pass Transmission LLC (NPT), and H.Q. Hydro Renewable Energy, Inc., an indirect, wholly-owned subsidiary of Hydro-Québec, in connection with the proposed Northern Pass Transmission Line. The $1.1 billion line is a new high voltage direct current (HVDC) transmission line to be constructed by NPT from the Canadian border in Pittsburg, NH, to a site in Franklin, NH and includes an associated alternating current radial transmission line. NPT is a joint venture indirectly owned by NU and NSTAR, on a 75% and 25% basis, respectively. Pursuant to the TSA, NPT will sell to H.Q. Hydro Renewable Energy 1,200 megawatts of firm electric transmission rights over the line for a 40-year term. NPT filed an application for a Presidential permit with the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) in October 2010 and the DOE held a series of public hearings on the project in mid-March 2011. NPT expects to submit applications for additional federal and state permits over the next year. Assuming timely regulatory review and siting approvals, NPT expects to commence construction of the line in early 2013, with power flowing across the line by late 2015.

In March 2011, Yankee Gas Services Co. resumed construction of its Waterbury-Wallingford Line (WWL), a 16-mile natural gas pipeline between Yankee Gas’s Waterbury, CT LNG facility and Wallingford, CT. Yankee Gas completed 11 miles of WWL in 2010 and expects to complete the remaining 5 miles and an increase in the vaporization capacity of the LNG facility in 2011. The entire project is expected to cost $57.6 million. It was 55% complete as of 3/31/11.

On 1/31/11, the DPU issued a final decision in WMECO’s application to raise distribution rates by $28.4 million. Among other items, the DPU approved an increase of $16.8 million annually, effective 2/1/11, an authorized distribution segment ROE of 9.6%, and a revenue decoupling plan with no inflation adjustment.

On 1/7/11, Yankee Gas filed an application with the DPUC to raise distribution rates by $32.8 million on 7/1/11 and another $13 million on 7/1/12. On 4/1/11, prior to the close of hearings, Yankee Gas reduced its proposed 7/1/11 increase to $29.1 million and its incremental 7/1/12 increase to $10.3 million. A final decision is expected in June 2011.

NU expects to release its first quarter 2011 results the first week of May.

NU’s annual meeting will be held on 5/10/11 in Hartford, CT.

NU will present at the American Gas Association’s annual Financial Forum on 5/16/11.