Eversource to Sell Share of Maine Power Plant for $1 Million

William F. Wyman Power Plant in Yarmouth, Maine. Photo: Energy Tariff Experts

Eversource Energy, NH's largest electric utility serving more than 500,000 homes and businesses in 211 cities and towns, has asked state and federal regulators to review and approve the proposed sale of its share of the William F. Wyman Power Plant in Yarmouth, Maine. Proceeds from the sale will be used by Eversource to reduce customer costs.

The sale is a requirement of a 2015 settlement agreement between Eversource and a number of settling parties, including staff of the NH Public Utilities Commission (NHPUC), the Office of Consumer Advocate, the Office of Energy and Planning and others focused on reducing customer costs and completing electric utility deregulation in the Granite State. It marks the first element of Eversource’s divestiture of its remaining power generation fleet, including nine hydroelectric facilities and three fossil-fuel plants in NH.

Eversource’s 3.1433 percent share of Wyman Station – Unit 4  represents about 19 megawatts of the 620 megawatt oil-fired generating plant. Under the proposed sale, FPL Energy Wyman IV LLC, the plant’s majority owner, will purchase Eversource’s share for about $1 million. The sale requires the approval of the NHPUC as well as the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Eversource submitted filings to both commissions on June 21.

Another auction process, managed by JP Morgan, is underway to complete the sale of Eversource’s remaining power generation facilities in NH. The NHPUC had previously ruled that the sale of Eversource’s Wyman 4 share could take place outside of the auction process. The auction schedule anticipates the completion of the sale process around the end of the year.