Eversource Energy (ES)

Eversource Energy reported second-quarter 2026 earnings of $53.7 million, or $0.14 per share, compared with $352.7 million, or $0.96 per share, in the second quarter of 2025 3. The result includes a non-cash, after-tax charge of $111.4 million for the sale of Aquarion Water Company on June 30, 2026 and an after-tax charge of $164.0 million for a larger offshore wind liability 3.

Leaving out such one-time items, the company's recurring earnings, a measure it calls non-GAAP, were $329.1 million, or $0.87 per share 3. That measure is the one its guidance uses 3.

The Aquarion sale to the Aquarion Water Authority, a Connecticut public body, closed for a total price of about $2.4 billion 2. About $1.7 billion of adjusted net equity proceeds will be used to reduce Eversource parent debt 2. Chief executive Joe Nolan said the company is now a "pure-play regulated electric and natural gas delivery company" 3.

The company reaffirmed 2026 non-GAAP recurring earnings guidance of $4.57 to $4.72 per share, which includes the prospective cut in the return regulators allow on transmission 3. It also reaffirmed a long-term earnings growth rate of 5 to 7 percent through 2030 3. The open question is how regulators and courts settle the transmission return and a Connecticut rate request filed in July 23.

Eversource is a public utility holding company headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts and Hartford, Connecticut 1. It earns its money by delivering electricity and natural gas through wholly-owned utilities, not by making the energy itself 1.

Offshore wind was the biggest story of 2023 to 2025 1. Eversource held 50 percent ownership interests in the Revolution Wind, South Fork Wind and Sunrise Wind projects, and sold them in 2024 1. It sold Sunrise Wind to Ørsted on July 9, 2024, and South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) on September 30, 2024 1.

Leaving that business cost money 1. After-tax offshore wind losses were $1,953.0 million in 2023, $524.0 million in 2024 and $75.0 million in 2025 1. As a result the company reported a net loss of $442.2 million in 2023, then earnings of $811.7 million in 2024 and $1,692.4 million in 2025 1.

Part of the 2025 charge came after the sale, because Eversource still owes GIP payments tied to Revolution Wind's construction costs 1. It raised that liability by a pre-tax $284.0 million in the third quarter of 2025 after cost increases and a federal stop-work order that halted construction through September 22, 2025 1.

The second turning point was selling the water business, Aquarion 1. Eversource signed a definitive agreement on January 27, 2025, and recorded a goodwill impairment of $297 million because the expected sale price was below the business's carrying value 1.

Connecticut's utility regulator, PURA, denied the sale on November 19, 2025, citing concerns about governance and oversight 1. The Connecticut Superior Court sustained Eversource's appeal on January 15, 2026, and PURA approved the sale on March 25, 2026 12.

Underneath, the regulated business grew 1. Operating revenues were $13,547.2 million in 2025 against $11,900.8 million in 2024, and cash from operations was $4.11 billion against $2.16 billion 1. Higher rates approved by regulators, such as a $100.7 million permanent increase at PSNH from August 1, 2025, fed that growth 1.

Electric distribution

Electric distribution is the wires, poles and meters that bring power to homes and businesses 1. Eversource's three electric utilities served about 1.32 million customers in Connecticut (CL&P), about 1.62 million in eastern and western Massachusetts (NSTAR Electric) and about 549,000 in New Hampshire (PSNH) at the end of 2025 1.

None of the three owns power plants; they buy electricity from suppliers and pass the cost through without mark-up 1. The segment earned $667.1 million in 2025 and $170.4 million in the second quarter of 2026 13.

Electric transmission

Transmission is the high-voltage grid that moves power between regions 1. The three utilities own transmission lines that are part of the New England grid, run under ISO New England, the region's independent grid operator 1. The segment earned $776.7 million in 2025, and about $183.7 million in the second quarter of 2026 before a refund charge 13.

Natural gas distribution

Three gas utilities deliver natural gas: NSTAR Gas to about 306,000 customers, EGMA to about 335,000 and Yankee Gas to about 256,000 1. The segment earned $360.5 million in 2025 1.

Water, now sold

Aquarion supplied water in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Hampshire until the sale closed on June 30, 2026 2. The 10-K counted five water utility subsidiaries under it 1.

Network, people and workforce

Eversource owned 458 distribution substations and 77 transmission substations at the end of 2025, with 40,650 circuit miles of overhead distribution lines 1. Joseph R Nolan Jr is chairman, president and chief executive, and John M Moreira is chief financial officer 1.

The company employed 10,731 people at the end of 2025, about 49 percent of them union members 1.

Rivals and problems

Eversource operates as the regulated delivery company in its territories, and customers may choose a competitive supplier for the energy itself while it keeps the wires 1. In the transmission return case it stands with another New England owner, Avangrid, as a co-filer 2.

Federal regulators (FERC) cut the base return on New England transmission from 10.57 percent to 9.57 percent in Opinion No. 594 on March 19, 2026 23. Eversource and Avangrid asked a court to stay the refunds and on April 20, 2026 the owners asked FERC to rehear it 2.

The offshore wind liability to GIP was $448.2 million at the end of 2025, recorded as a current liability 1. New Hampshire's Department of Energy appealed the PSNH rate decision to the state Supreme Court on January 30, 2026 1.

The umbrella, in words

Brands and subsidiaries: CL&P, NSTAR Electric (with its subsidiary Harbor Electric Energy Company), PSNH, NSTAR Gas, EGMA and Yankee Gas are all wholly-owned and trade as Eversource Energy in their territories 1. CL&P, NSTAR Electric and PSNH also serve New England customers through the electric transmission business 1.

Stakes: Eversource's only remaining offshore wind business is a noncontrolling tax equity investment in South Fork Wind, an investment, not a controlling stake 1. It also agreed to guarantees tied to its sold wind assets, including up to $300.0 million for Revolution Wind tax positions 2.

Land and control: the 10-K lists substations and circuit miles of line as the main property, and Nolan has been chairman of the Board since January 1, 2023 1.

The company expects to spend $26.51 billion on capital projects from 2026 through 2030: $11.24 billion in electric distribution, $6.80 billion in natural gas distribution and $7.24 billion in electric transmission 1.

ISO-NE preliminarily selected a joint proposal from Eversource and Central Maine Power for a line between Maine and New Hampshire 2. Eversource's share of the $2.2 billion project is about $700 million, with an expected in-service date in 2032 2.

CL&P filed on July 14, 2026 to raise base rates by about $451 million a year, and PURA's decision is expected by June 29, 2027 2. The company expects earnings growth toward the upper half of its long-term range by 2028 3.

FERC extended the deadline for transmission refunds to May 20, 2027, and the owners have asked it to rehear the order 2. The company expects to use the Aquarion proceeds to cut parent company debt 2. A settlement approved in January 2026 continues NSTAR Gas's performance-based rate program through November 1, 2030 1.