Exhibit 99

EXCERPT FROM NORTHEAST UTILITIES PRESS RELEASE, DATED APRIL
23, 2002, "NU REPORTS LOWER FIRST-QUARTER RESULTS,"

     [Michael G. Morris, NU Chairman, President and
Chief Executive Officer,] said NU expects to record after-tax
earnings of between $25 million and $30 million later in
2002 in connection with the proposed sale of the system's
40.04 percent interest in the Seabrook nuclear station in
Seabrook, New Hampshire to a subsidiary of FPL Group.  These
earnings relate to a gain on the sale of an unaffiliated
company's share of Seabrook and to certain dismantlement
accruals previously set aside for the abandoned Seabrook 2
nuclear unit.  Under the sale agreement, FPL will be
responsible for the dismantlement of Seabrook 2.  The sale
is subject to a number of contingencies, including
regulatory approvals.

     The vast majority of the approximately $400 million of
proceeds the NU System expects to receive from the sale will
be used to reduce PSNH and CL&P stranded costs and to pay
taxes.  After-tax proceeds will be used in part to repay all
$90 million of outstanding debt of North Atlantic Energy
Corporation, an NU subsidiary which owns nearly 36 percent
of Seabrook, and to return all of NAEC's equity to NU.
NAEC, which has a power sales contract with PSNH, had $35.9
million of common equity as of March 31, 2002.  Additional
proceeds will be used primarily to reduce PSNH's
capitalization, fund CL&P's capital needs, and meet some
modest decommissioning obligations associated with the NU
system's interest in Seabrook.

     This press release includes forward-looking statements
within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995, which are statements of future
expectations and not facts.  Actual results or developments
might differ materially from those included in the forward-
looking statements because of factors such as competition
and industry restructuring, changes in economic conditions,
changes in historical weather patterns, changes in laws,
regulations or regulatory policies, developments in legal or
public policy doctrines, technological developments and
other presently unknown or unforeseen factors.  Other risk
factors are detailed from time to time in NU's reports to
the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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