AUGUSTA (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- Attorney Sumner Lipman says dozens of people have called his law offices asking to join a class action lawsuit against Central Maine Power, one day after it was announced. According to a release sent out Tuesday, the Augusta based Lipman & Katz law office is joining several law firms, including New York City based Napoli Shkolnik, in filing the suit on “behalf of customers of Central Maine Power Company who have been overcharged.”
The release also reads in part, “as a result of our investigation it is estimated that over 97,000 customers of Central Maine Power Company have been overcharged 50% or more on their utility bills, and another 200,000 customers have been overcharged up to 50%.” He says their investigation started May 1st.
As of Wednesday morning, Lipman said he had heard from more than a hundred others saying they wanted to be included in the class action lawsuit. He said they are also providing new information, although he wouldn't provide details. When asked whether former or current employees of Central Maine Power are among those who have called, Lipman responded “I can’t say.”
The complaint is expected to be filed later this week at Cumberland County Superior Court.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Central Maine Power provided this response to NEWS CENTER Maine Wednesday:
We value our customers and are committed to fair and accurate metering and billing. CMP has not seen a copy of the referenced complaint and therefore cannot comment on the matter at this point.
Complaints from customers began in January. In March, the Public Utilities Commission launched a management audit into CMP's billing practices.
Meanwhile, the Facebook group, “CMP Ratepayers Unite” has acquired more than 5,000 members as of Wednesday. That’s where several CMP customers have raised a new concern: some say they have not received a utility bill from CMP in months.
Regarding customers not receiving bills, a CMP spokesperson wrote to NEWS CENTER Maine:
Our new billing system has additional layers of validation to ensure that we maximize the accuracy of bills going out to customers. The system will create an “exception” and hold a bill back if something falls outside certain parameters. Once verified accurate, the bill goes out. This is likely what happened with these customers, however, we would ask that any customers who have questions to get in touch with us so that we can review directly. As always, if a customer has a balance that cannot be paid in full right away, CMP is willing to establish plans that allow payment over a longer period.