Exhibit 10.10.1
NSTAR
TRUSTEES’ DEFERRED
PLAN
(Effective January 1,
2008)
INTRODUCTION
The purpose of the NSTAR
Trustees’ Deferred Plan (the “Plan”) is to
provide an arrangement whereby Outside Trustees may (i) elect
to defer receipt of designated percentages or amounts of their
retainers and fees, and (ii) receive additional deferred
amounts from the Company. This Plan consists of two parts: the
NSTAR 409A Trustees’ Deferred Plan (the “409A
Plan”) and the NSTAR Trustees’ Deferred Plan as
Restated Effective August 25, 1999, and as in effect on
October 3, 2004 (the “Grandfathered Plan”). This
restatement of the Plan is effective as of January 1, 2008
(the “Effective Date”).
The 409A Plan is intended to comply
with the requirements of Code section 409A and guidance issued
thereunder and shall be interpreted and administered in a manner
consistent with such requirements. For the avoidance of doubt, the
terms of the 409A Plan shall apply to amounts deferred on or after
January 1, 2005 and amounts deferred but not vested as of
December 31, 2004 under the Grandfathered Plan. The terms of
the 409A Plan are set forth at Part A.
All amounts deferred and vested
prior to January 1, 2005, shall be grandfathered for purposes
of Code section 409A and shall be governed by the NSTAR
Trustees’ Deferred Plan as it was in effect on
October 3, 2004. The Grandfathered Plan is frozen as of
December 31, 2004. No deferrals of retainers or other fees
(whether payable in cash or Shares) thereafter paid or payable to a
Participant shall be made after December 31, 2004 under the
Grandfathered Plan, and no individual not a Participant as of
December 31, 2004 shall thereafter become a Participant in the
Grandfathered Plan. The Grandfathered Plan has not been amended or
modified in any way after October 3, 2004, and a copy of the
Grandfathered Plan as it was in effect on October 3, 2004 is
attached at Part B.
PART A
NSTAR 409A TRUSTEES’
DEFERRED PLAN
-2-
NSTAR 409A Trustees’
Deferred Plan
(a) “Board of Trustees”
means the board of trustees of the Company.
(b) “Change of Control”
has the meaning set forth in Appendix A.
(c) “Code” means the
Internal Revenue Code of 1986 as amended from time to
time.
(d) “Company” means
NSTAR.
(e) “Company Credit
Account” means the Company credit account described in
Section 6.
(f) “Deferral Account”
means the deferral account described in Section 5.
(g) “Grandfathered Plan”
means the NSTAR Trustees’ Deferred Plan as Restated Effective
August 25, 1999, and as in effect on October 3,
2004.
(h) “Outside Trustee”
means a member of the Board of Trustees who is not an employee of
the Company or any of its affiliates.
(i) “Participant” means
an Outside Trustee who participates in the 409A Plan.
(j) “Plan” means the
Grandfathered Plan and the 409A Plan.
(k) “409A Plan” means
the NSTAR 409A Trustees’ Deferred Plan as set forth as Part A
herein and as from time to time amended.
(l) “Plan Administrator”
means the Board of Trustees or other person or persons authorized
to administer the 409A Plan in accordance with
Section 9.
(m) “Separation from
Service” means the cessation of a Participant’s service
as a member of the Board of Trustees which constitutes a separation
from service with the Company and its affiliates in accordance with
subsection (a)(2)(A)(i) of section 409A of the Code and the
Regulations thereunder.
-3-
(n) “Shares” means
common shares of the Company.
Each Outside Trustee shall be
eligible to participate in the 409A Plan. Notwithstanding the
foregoing, an Outside Trustee shall not become a Participant in the
409A Plan until he or she completes such forms as the Plan
Administrator may require.
A Participant may elect to defer all
or any portion of his or her cash retainers or other cash fees
otherwise payable by the Company in a calendar year, subject to
such minimum deferral amounts as the Plan Administrator may
prescribe prior to the start of such calendar year.
(a) Initial Election . A
Participant’s election of deferral under Section 3 shall
be in the form prescribed by the Plan Administrator and shall be
subject to such terms and conditions as the Plan Administrator may
prescribe. A Participant may elect to defer compensation for
services performed during a taxable year (the “service
year”) only if the election of deferral is filed not later
than the close of the taxable year preceding the service year. Each
election shall specify the percentage or amount of the
Participant’s cash retainers or other cash fees to be
credited to his or her Deferral Account instead of being paid
currently to the Participant. Each election shall be irrevocable
for the calendar year or years to which it applies. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, an Outside Trustee who becomes eligible to
participate in the Plan during the calendar year may make an
election of deferral for the balance of such calendar year (with
respect to amounts paid to the Participant for services to be
performed after his or her election of deferral) provided he or she
makes such election within 30 days of the date he or she becomes
eligible to participate in the Plan, in accordance with Code
section 409A. A Participant’s deferral election for the
calendar year shall terminate if a Participant obtains a payment
due to unforeseeable emergency (in accordance with
Section 8).
-4-
(b) Election As To Form of
Distribution . A Participant’s initial election of
deferral described in paragraph (a) above shall specify the
form of payment for the distribution in respect of such deferral
and all subsequent deferrals, which the Participant shall select
from among the lump sum and installment options prescribed by the
Plan Administrator. A Participant may subsequently change his or
her election as to the form of distribution in accordance with
rules and procedures established by the Plan Administrator;
provided, however, that (i) such election change shall not
take effect until 12 months after the date on which the election
change is made and (ii) payment will be deferred for a period
of not less than five years from the date on which such payment
would otherwise have been made, in accordance with Treas. Reg.
§1.409A-2(b)(1).
(c) Transition Rule for 2007
. Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, the Plan
Administrator may establish special rules and procedures to permit
Participants with an Account under the Plan (as in effect prior to
January 1, 2008) and whose distribution date or dates with
respect to such Account would fall after December 31, 2007 to
elect, in a manner consistent with transition guidance under
Section 409A, a new form and time of distribution (commencing
not earlier than 2008), subject to such limitations and
restrictions as the Plan Administrator may impose. This
Section 4(c) shall be effective as of January 1,
2007.
(d) Transition Rule for 2008
. Notwithstanding any provision herein to the contrary, the Plan
Administrator may establish special rules and procedures to permit
Participants with an Account under the Plan and whose distribution
date or dates with respect to such Account would fall after
December 31, 2008 to elect, in a manner consistent with
transition guidance under Section 409A, a new form and time of
distribution (commencing not earlier than 2009), subject to such
limitations and restrictions as the Plan Administrator may
impose.
-5-
The Plan Administrator shall
maintain a Deferral Account on behalf of each Participant as
follows:
(a) Deferrals . The Plan
Administrator shall credit to a Participant’s Deferral
Account the amounts of cash retainers or other cash fees, as
applicable, which the Participant has elected to defer under the
409A Plan. In each case credits shall be made as of the dates the
cash retainers or other cash fees would have been payable if not
deferred.
(b) Investment Measurements .
From time to time the Company will establish investment
measurements to be used to adjust the balance of each
Participant’s Deferral Account. Such investment measurements
may be changed from time to time by the Company. The Plan
Administrator may establish rules and procedures to permit
Participants to select notional investments for their respective
Deferral Accounts from among available investment measurements.
From time to time, as determined by the Plan Administrator, each
Participant’s Deferral Account will be adjusted to reflect
such investment measurements.
|
6.
|
Company
Credit Account
|
The Plan Administrator shall
maintain a Company Credit Account on the books and records of the
Company for each Participant as follows:
(a) Company Credits . As of
each April 1 and October 1, provided the Participant is
an Outside Trustee on such date, the Plan Administrator will credit
to the Participant’s Company Credit Account the amount of the
Participant’s retainer or other fees as of such date that is
paid to the Participant in Shares.
-6-
(b) Investment Measurement .
The sole investment measurement for determining the value of the
Participant’s Company Credit Account shall be the value of
Shares which could be purchased (or which are purchased) with
Company credits as soon as possible following the date of such
credits. Any dividends on such Shares will be reinvested or deemed
reinvested in such Shares. In such manner and at such time as the
Plan Administrator shall determine, each Participant’s
Company Credit Account will be adjusted to reflect such investment
measurement. The Company may, but shall not be required to,
purchase Shares to satisfy its obligation to Participants under
this paragraph. If such purchase of Shares is made, the Company
may, in its discretion and subject to such limitations as it may
determine, permit a Participant to exercise voting rights with
respect to such Shares as are allocated to his or her Company
Credit Account.
|
7.
|
Commencement
of Distributions; Payment Periods
|
(a) In-Service Distributions
. At the time the Participant makes an election of deferral under
Section 3, and subject to the conditions of this Section, a
Participant may also elect to receive a single sum payment from his
or her Deferral Account of all or a specified portion of the amount
attributable to such deferral on a fixed date prior to the
Participant’s Separation from Service (hereinafter referred
to as the “fixed date”). Such fixed date must be at
least five years after the date of such deferral. The rules and
procedures for such elections will be promulgated by the Plan
Administrator. All elections under this Section 7(a) require
the consent of the Plan Administrator to become effective. No
portion of a Participant’s Company Credit Account may be paid
under this Section 7(a).
(b) Separation from Service .
Upon the Participant’s Separation from Servi