Eversource Energy (ES) Risk Factor Changes

We assess our long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the investment may not be recoverable.

Goodwill and long-lived assets if impaired and written down, could adversely affect our future operating results and total capitalization.

We provide a defined benefit pension plan and other postretirement benefits for a substantial number of employees, former employees and retirees.

We use short-term debt and long-term capital markets as a significant source of liquidity and funding for capital requirements not obtained from our operating cash flow.

Our operations depend on the continued efforts of our employees.

We outsource certain services to third parties in areas including information technology, transaction processing, human resources, payroll and payroll processing and certain operational areas.

We are pursuing investment opportunities in electric transmission facilities, distributed generation and other clean-energy infrastructure, including interconnection facilities.

Our water supplies, including water provided to our customers, are also subject to possible contamination from naturally occurring compounds and elements or non-organic substances, including PFAS.

Initiatives to mitigate the impacts of climate change, support a transition to cleaner energy, and reduce emissions, may have a material adverse financial impact on our business.

Climate change creates physical and financial risks to our operations.

Additionally, we hold a tax equity investment in South Fork Wind that is expected to result in cash flow benefits from ITCs at a 30 percent level.

Following the sale of our 50 percent ownership share in the South Fork Wind and Revolution Wind projects, we have continuing financial exposure as it relates to the purchase price post-closing adjustment payments unde…

The costs of compliance with existing legal requirements may increase in the future.

Changes in tax laws, as well as the potential tax effects of business decisions or other actions by the federal government such as Presidential executive orders could negatively impact our business, financial position…

Further, FERC's policy has encouraged competition for transmission projects as it looks to expand the transmission system to accommodate state and federal policy as well as to enhance reliability and resilience for ex…

condition.

In the regular course of business, we, and our third-party suppliers, rely on information technology to maintain sensitive Company, customer, employee, financial and system operating information.

We have instituted safeguards to protect our technology systems and assets; however, we cannot guarantee that our security efforts will prevent or deter cyberattacks.

Cyberattacks that seek to exploit potential vulnerabilities in the utility industry and seek to disrupt electric, natural gas and water transmission and distribution systems are increasing in sophistication including…

Additionally, rising geo-political tensions could negatively impact the global supply chain.

Addressing any adverse publicity, regulatory scrutiny or enforcement or other legal proceedings is time consuming and expensive and, regardless of the factual basis for the assertions being made, can have a negative i…

Adverse publicity of this nature could harm our reputation and the reputation of our subsidiaries; may make state legislatures, utility commissions and other regulatory authorities less likely to view us in a favorabl…

Because utility companies, including our electric, natural gas and water utility subsidiaries, have large customer bases, they are subject to adverse publicity focused on the safety and reliability of their distributi…

The FERC also has jurisdiction over our transmission rate incentives such as the regional transmission organization (RTO) participation ROE incentive adder, CWIP in rate base incentive and the abandoned plant incentive.

We continue to experience challenges related to the regulatory environment in Connecticut with respect to our electric distribution, natural gas, and water businesses.

The federal, state and local political and economic environment currently has, and may in the future have, an adverse effect on regulatory decisions with negative consequences for us.

Under state and federal law, our electric, natural gas and water companies are entitled to charge rates that are sufficient to allow them an opportunity to recover their prudently incurred operating and capital costs…

The rates that our electric, natural gas and water companies charge their customers are determined by their state regulatory commissions.

Any such cyberattacks could result in loss of service to customers and a significant decrease in revenues, which could have a material adverse impact on our financial position, results of operations, and cash flows.

Addressing adverse publicity, regulatory actions or legal proceedings is costly and time-consuming and can negatively impact employee morale and relationships with regulators, customers and counterparties.

We also depend on third-party suppliers for power and natural gas.

Our electric, natural gas and water utility subsidiaries serve large customer bases and are subject to adverse publicity regarding service safety, reliability and response times to outages, leaks or other interruption…

New processes and planning frameworks, including ISO-NE’s Longer-Term Transmission Planning (LTTP) competitive solicitation process and advisory role as asset condition reviewer, introduce uncertainty around project t…

The FERC has jurisdiction over our transmission cost recovery and our allowed ROEs on transmission investments.

Regulatory approval is also required for certain dispositions of property and plant, mergers and consolidations and issuances of long-term securities, and construction and operation of facilities.

Regulatory commissions may challenge the reasonableness or prudency of operating expenses (including storm restoration costs) incurred or capital investments made by our regulated operating companies and deny the full…

State commissions regulate rates, operations, accounting and certain financing activities.

Customer affordability concerns, driven by volatility in energy supply costs, evolving public policy mandates and inflationary pressures, may limit our ability to recover costs or fund infrastructure upgrades.

Our electric, natural gas, and water utility companies are subject to regulation by federal and state agencies and each is required to engage in regulatory approval proceedings as a part of the process of establishing…

Rate Regulation, Cost Recovery and Affordability

We deploy AI tools and models in areas such as weather forecasting, grid planning, asset management, customer service and internal support functions.

We are increasingly integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into our operations, and while these technologies offer operational benefits, they also introduce significant risks that could adversely impact our business…

for credit monitoring of, customers, employees and other persons in the event of a breach of private information.