Customers of Connecticut Light and Power, Yankee Gas, and other Northeast Utility brands are getting used to a new name as of Monday. All of NU’s subsidiaries are now Eversource Energy.
The Northeast Utilities brand dates back to the mid-1960s, but the recent merger of the company with Massachusetts based NStar began a search for a new identity, and this wholesale rebranding is the culmination of a year-long effort.
The company’s websites will all now come under the umbrella of eversource.com, and even the company’s stock ticker will change -- to the letters ES.
Susan Spiggle, a marketing professor at UConn, said part of the change is a modernization of NU’s image. "I think moving to ‘energy’ is interesting," she told WNPR, "because ‘energy’ has very different connotations than 'utility.'"
Spiggle added that dropping “Northeast” moves the company away from a geographical anchor, and “Eversource” could also open it to expanding into more aggressively into renewable sources in the future. Although she said some CL&P customers may also see some irony in the name. “‘Eversource’ almost suggests you’ll always be there," she said. "And I was amused when I first heard it because of the power outages that we had in the last few years that for many people, including me, lasted as much as a week."
Eversource CEO Tom May will be hoping that’s not what comes to mind for most customers. He issued a statement saying the name reflects the one-company focus that he’s been driving for in the last few years.
