AUGUSTA (NEWS CENTER Maine) -- In a letter sent Friday to Central Maine Power's CEO, Doug Herling, the director of Maine's Consumer Assistance and Safety Division, Derek Davidson, said there has been a "significant number of calls" from customers who are "concerned about the time it is taking to hear from CMP."
According to the letter, as of August 27, 2018, 45% of the 2,865 customers who have been referred by the CASD to CMP's specialized complaint resolution team, have been contacted by the power company.
The letter requested a response from CMP by October 5.
That request specifically asked for CMP to describe any steps it will take to ensure the remaining customers are contacted and have "their complaints examined, in a timely manner."
According to the letter, the CASD and CMP agreed on a two business day time period for CMP's specialized team to reach out to individual customers. Per CMP's request, due to the large volume of customers, the contact period was extended to two weeks. However, as Davidson wrote:
Even with this extension, CMP has been unable to consistently meet the contact goal. In fact, the length of time it takes for CMP’s specialized team to contact customers has grown longer. As of the date of this letter, there are customers that were referred to CMP’s specialized team as far back as June 5 that, according to CMP’s reports, have not yet been contacted.
A Central Maine Power spokesperson says the company is continuing to work with customers on a one-on-one basis. A statement to NEWS CENTER Maine said:
We continue to follow a process established by the MPUC to set aside disputed portions of customer bills, and as always, we are committed to complying with the Commission’s consumer protection rules in all customer interactions. We will provide a more detailed response to Commission staff by the Oct. 5 date stated in the letter.
Maine's Public Utilities Commission continues to investigate CMP's return on equity and its billing and customer service practices.
Last week, the PUC concluded both CMP and Emera Maine prepared and responded 'reasonably' to the October 29, 2017 wind storm.
PUC Letter to CMP by NEWSCENTER26 on Scribd