To: Executive Secretary, Public Utilities Regulatory Agency From: Karen Burnaska, Director, Natural Resources, League of Women Voters of Connecticut Re: Doc. No. 12-01-07, Application for Appeal of Holding Company Transaction Involving Northeast Utilities and NSTAR Date: February 18, 2012 The League of Women Voters of Connecticut and its more than 1,800 members support the preservation and protection of open space and watershed lands. The Public Utilities Regulatory Agency (PURA) is now reviewing the merger application between Northeast Utilities (NU) and NSTAR. NU owns nearly ten thousand acres of critical conservation land across Connecticut. Some parcels are large and well-known, like Maromas near Middletown. Many form greenbelts along miles of rivers like the Housatonic, Farmington and Naugatuck Rivers. Together they contribute valuable open space that preserves green landscapes, filters water entering our rivers, and provides recreational opportunities. These lands are protected by an existing Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). The League of Women Voters of Connecticut requests that PURA strengthen and extend the MOU in order to ensure that the nearly 375 parcels of land on the Conservation List be protected. I thank you in advance for your consideration and hope that PURA will preserve agreements now in place between the owner of the open space land, NU, and any future owner, keeping these lands forever green. Dear Governor Malloy, On behalf of the over 1,800 members of the League of Women Voters of CT, I urge you to veto Bill 1196, the “Haddam Land Swap.” The League of Women Voters believes that the public should have confidence in the integrity of its government. If you sign this bill into law, it will send a message that special interests have trumped the public interest. The land in question was purchased by the State for conservation purposes. In order to maintain the integrity of the process followed and to retain the trust of the electorate, we ask that the covenant on the land be honored and the land remain open space. Thank you for your consideration. Cheryl Dunson, President LWVCT | Advocacy:
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