Shares granted in incentive plan (up to) (in shares)

  
Certain investments, such as commingled funds, private equity investments, fixed income funds, real asset funds and hedge funds are valued using the net asset value (NAV) as a practical expedient. Assets valued at NAV are uncategorized in the fair value hierarchy. These investments are structured as investment companies offering shares or units to multiple investors for the purpose of providing a return. Commingled funds are recorded at NAV provided by the asset manager, which is based on the market prices of the underlying equity securities.  Private Equity investments, Fixed Income partnership funds and Real Assets are valued using the NAV provided by the partnerships, which are based on discounted cash flows of the underlying investments, real estate appraisals or public market comparables of the underlying investments, or the NAV of underlying assets held in hedge funds. Equity Securities investments in United States, Global, Non-United States and Emerging Markets that are uncategorized include investments in commingled funds and hedge funds that are overlaid with equity index swaps and futures contracts. Fixed Income investments that are uncategorized include investments in commingled funds, fixed income funds that invest in a variety of opportunistic and fixed income strategies, and hedge funds that are overlaid with fixed income futures.    
B.     Defined Contribution PlansEversource maintains defined contribution plans on behalf of eligible participants.  The Eversource 401k Plan provides for employee and employer contributions up to statutory limits.  For eligible employees, the Eversource 401k Plan provides employer matching contributions of either 100 percent up to a maximum of three percent of eligible compensation or 50 percent up to a maximum of eight percent of eligible compensation. The Eversource 401k Plan also contains a K-Vantage feature for the benefit of eligible participants, which provides an additional annual employer contribution based on age and years of service.  K-Vantage participants are not eligible to actively participate in the Eversource Pension Plan.  
The total Eversource 401k Plan employer matching contributions, including the K-Vantage contributions, were as follows:

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| (Millions of Dollars) | Eversource |  | CL&P |  | NSTAR Electric |  | PSNH |
| 2021 | $ | 55.5  |  |  | $ | 7.0  |  |  | $ | 12.2  |  |  | $ | 4.3  |  |
| 2020 | 49.4  |  |  | 6.6  |  |  | 11.8  |  |  | 4.1  |  |
| 2019 | 41.6  |  |  | 5.5  |  |  | 10.3  |  |  | 3.5  |  |

  
C.    Share-Based PaymentsShare-based compensation awards are recorded using a fair-value based method at the date of grant.  Eversource, CL&P, NSTAR Electric and PSNH record compensation expense related to these awards, as applicable, for shares issued to their respective employees and officers, as well as for the allocation of costs associated with shares issued to Eversource's service company employees and officers that support CL&P, NSTAR Electric and PSNH.    
Eversource Incentive Plans:  Eversource maintains long-term equity-based incentive plans in which Eversource, CL&P, NSTAR Electric and PSNH employees, officers and board members are eligible to participate.  The incentive plans authorize Eversource to grant up to 6,700,000 new shares for various types of awards, including RSUs and performance shares, to eligible employees, officers, and board members. As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, Eversource had 2,430,716 and 2,876,601 common shares, respectively, available for issuance under these plans.  
Eversource accounts for its various share-based plans as follows:  
•RSUs - Eversource records compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period based upon the fair value of Eversource's common shares at the date of grant.  The par value of RSUs is reclassified to Common Stock from Capital Surplus, Paid In as RSUs become issued as common shares.  
•Performance Shares - Eversource records compensation expense, net of estimated forfeitures, on a straight-line basis over the requisite service period.  Performance shares vest based upon the extent to which Company goals are achieved.  Vesting of outstanding performance shares is based upon both the Company's EPS growth over the requisite service period and the total shareholder return as compared to the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Index during the requisite service period.  The fair value of performance shares is determined at the date of grant using a lattice model.  
RSUs:  Eversource granted RSUs under the annual long-term incentive programs that are subject to three-year graded vesting schedules for employees, and one-year graded vesting schedules, or immediate vesting, for board members.  RSUs are paid in shares, reduced by amounts sufficient to satisfy withholdings for income taxes, subsequent to vesting.  A summary of RSU transactions is as follows: 

|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
|  | RSUs(Units) |  | Weighted AverageGrant-Date Fair Value |
| Outstanding as of December 31, 2020 | 674,218  |  |  | $ | 63.42  |  |
| Granted | 165,930  |  |  | $ | 81.89  |  |
| Shares Issued | (223,484) |  |  | $ | 69.03  |  |
| Forfeited | (22,041) |  |  | $ | 83.86  |  |
| Outstanding as of December 31, 2021 | 594,623  |  |  | $ | 65.70  |  |

  
The weighted average grant-date fair value of RSUs granted for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019 was $81.89, $88.23 and $67.91, respectively.  As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, the number and weighted average grant-date fair value of unvested RSUs was 297,270 and $83.39 per share, and 379,258 and $77.13 per share, respectively.  During 2021, there were 219,560 RSUs at a weighted average grant-date fair value of $72.37 per share that vested during the year and were either paid or deferred.  As of December 31, 2021, 297,353 RSUs were fully vested and deferred and an additional 282,407 are expected to vest.   114
