DE 97-251
                                     
                        New England Power Company 
                                     
                Petition to Transfer Facilities to USGenNE
                                     
                    Order Adopting Procedural Schedule
                                     
                         O R D E R   N O.  22,849
                                     
                             February 17, 1998
                                
                                  APPEARANCES: Michael Holmes, Esq., for the Office
     of the Consumer Advocate; David Marshall, Esq., for the
     Conservation Law Foundation; Office of Attorney General of
     the State of New Hampshire by Wynn E. Arnold, Esq., for the
     Governor's Office of Energy and Community Services; James
     Monahan for Cabletron Systems, Inc.; F. Anne Ross, Esq., for
     the Retail Merchants Association of New Hampshire; LeBoeuf,
     Lamb, Greene & McRae by Scott J. Mueller, Esq., for USGen
     New England, Inc.; Carlos Gavilondo, Esq., for New England
     Power Company; Rubin & Rudman by Karla Doukas, Esq., for
     Enron Energy Services Company; and Eugene F. Sullivan, III,
     Esq., and Robert J. Frank, Esq., for the Staff of the New
     Hampshire Public Utilities Commission.
     
         On December 8, 1997, New England Power Company (NEP)
     filed with the Commission a petition to transfer its New
     Hampshire-based generating facilities to USGenNE.  NEP asks the
     Commission to (a) approve the transfer of generating facilities
     pursuant to RSA 374:30, (b) make the necessary determinations
     under 18 C.F.R. 365.3(b) relating to exempt wholesale generators
     and (c) authorize, pursuant to RSA 369:1, the issuance of long-term debt to enable the divestiture of generating assets.
         By Order of Notice issued January 6, 1998, the
     Commission scheduled a prehearing conference for January 22, 1998
     and set deadlines for intervention requests and objections
     thereto.  
         During the prehearing conference, the Commission
     granted timely intervention requests filed by the following
     entities:  the Town of Littleton, NH (Littleton); the
     Conservation Law Foundation (CLF); USGen New England, Inc.
     (USGen); the Office of Attorney General of the State of New
     Hampshire on behalf of the Governor's Office of Energy and
     Community Services (the Governor); the Business and Industry
     Association of New Hampshire (BIA); and Enron Energy Services
     Company (Enron).  The Commission also granted oral motions to
     intervene by Cabletron Systems, Inc. (Cabletron) and the Retail
     Merchants Association (RMA).  The Office of the Consumer Advocate
     (OCA) is a statutorily recognized intervenor.
         During the prehearing conference, in accordance with
     the Order of Notice, the intervenors and Staff stated various
     preliminary views and concerns with regard to the NEP filing.  In
     particular, several parties expressed concern that NEP's filing
     should be considered in conjunction with any settlement agreement
     that might be filed by GSEC and others in DR 96-150.  Staff
     stated that GSEC should be made a party to this proceeding
     because its rights and interests are implicated by the filing.    
         Following the prehearing conference, the parties agreed
     to a proposed procedural schedule which, as memorialized in a
     January 29, 1998 letter from Carlos Gavilondo to the Commission,
     is as follows:
          Technical Session                   February 17, 1998  
          Discovery                  Rolling; February 23, 1998  
            (First round)              (Cutoff for first round)  
     
          Responses to Discovery Requests         March 4, 1998  
            (First round)
     
          Intervenor Testimony                    March 11, 1998 
     
          Rebuttal Testimony                      March 18, 1998 
     
          Hearings                    March 24, 25, 26 & 31, 1998
                                                April 1 & 2, 1998
     
         We find the proposed procedural schedule to be
     reasonable in light of the current scope of the docket as it is
     now defined by NEP's Petition to Transfer.  However, NEP and
     others should be aware that the scope of this proceeding could
     change dramatically if our review of the filing reveals that the
     requested approvals have broader implications, particularly
     concerning matters which are addressed in DR 96-150.  In
     addition, we herein direct Granite State Electric Company to
     appear as a party in this proceeding and to comply in all
     respects with the above-referenced procedural schedule. 
         Based upon the foregoing, it is hereby
         ORDERED, that the proposed procedural schedule
     delineated above is APPROVED; and it is
         FURTHER ORDERED, that full intervenor status is granted
     in this matter to the Town of Littleton, NH; the Conservation Law
     Foundation; USGen New England, Inc.; the NH Governor's Office of
     Energy and Community Services; the Business and Industry
     Association of New Hampshire; Cabletron Systems, Inc.; the Retail
     Merchants Association; and, Enron Energy Services Company; and it
     is 
         FURTHER ORDERED, that Granite State Electric Company is
     directed to appear as a party in this proceeding and to comply
     with the procedural schedule set forth herein.
         By order of the Public Utilities Commission of New
     Hampshire this seventeenth day of February, 1998.
     
                                                                     
        Douglas L. Patch    Bruce B. Ellsworth        Susan S. Geiger
            Chairman           Commissioner            Commissioner
     
     
     
     Attested by:
     
     
                                      
     Thomas B. Getz
     Executive Director and Secretary