An audit that raised concerns about management practices at Versant Power has prompted state regulators to investigate the company further.
The Public Utilities Commission ordered the independent audit last year to examine concerns that Versant was not meeting legal obligations or customer expectations.
"The report raises a number of issues that warrant serious attention and call into question the judgement of Versant management in certain cases," said commission chair Phil Bartlett during a meeting Tuesday.
The audit, conducted by Overland Consulting examined Versant's management structure, operations, customer service and billing, and electric system reliability, according to the commission.
The company serves 165,000 customers in northern and eastern Maine.
Commissioner Patrick Scully said the agency needed to examine whether the utility's service quality met its customers' electric rates, which rose substantially in recent years. Soaring rates should be met with improved reliability and excellent customer service, Scully added.
"Those expectations have yet to be met and we need to understand why not and what actions as a result of this audit and investigation Versant and the commission need to take to address the deficiencies," he said.
Scully also noted that the audit reported a "lack of meaningful oversight" of Versant by its parent company Enmax Corp. Enmax is owned by the city of Calgary, Alberta.
"I'm hopeful that Enmax will participate in this investigation and demonstrate a commitment to addressing the issues that are raised," Scully said.
The commission has repeatedly sanctioned Versant for missing customer service targets, including a $90,000 fine levied last year.
Regulators have also questioned the utility's resistance to performance metrics and delays in collecting unpaid bills.
In a statement, Versant spokesperson Judy Long said it agreed with some of the audit findings and was working to make improvements in certain areas.
However, the company was concerned about some of the auditor's suggestions, including that Versant spend tens of millions of dollars on personnel, software and initiatives that could "somehow achieve $1.5 million to $4 million in customer savings per year," Long said.
Responding to Scully's comments on Enmax, Long added that the PUC and stakeholders enacted restrictions on Versant's Canadian ownership to ensure it remained a locally-run utility.
We "are concerned with the affordability of some of the recommendations as well as conflicting messages from auditors versus regulatory staff and policy-makers," Long said.
