The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, Section 404 (SOX 404), required public companies to report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting. Management’s responsibility is to establish and maintain effective internal controls to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting. Strong internal controls have always been a priority at UIL Holdings.

SOX 404 compliance continues to focus on controls which have been incorporated as part of our standard business processes utilizing a “risk-based” approach. UIL Holdings’ Board of Directors and Audit Committee, which oversee the financial reporting process, have also been active in the oversight of the internal control review process to ensure its completion and effectiveness.

The officers of UIL Holdings have assessed the internal control environment for 2009 and have certified the effectiveness and reliability of the internal control system and determined that as of December 31, 2009, UIL maintained effective internal control over financial reporting and have certified to that effect.

Functional business executives and certain accounting and financial managers are also required to submit internal control certifications to management as part of the SOX 404 process. These SOX 404 certifications, in conjunction with the opinion of our independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers, on UIL Holdings’ financial statements should provide investors and shareowners with additional confidence regarding the integrity of our financial statements. Shareowners should also note that UIL Holdings included (1) the certifications of its CEO and CFO, required by Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, as exhibits to its Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 17, 2010, and (2) the certification of its CEO that UIL Holdings is in compliance with the corporate governance listing standards of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), as an exhibit to its Annual Written Affirmation, which was filed with the NYSE on June 10, 2009.