Central Maine Power Co. said it is realigning its management and adding an independent director to its parent company’s board of directors as part of its effort to strengthen local management and improve reliability.

The changes announced Wednesday are part of the company’s response to a management audit report filed with the Maine Public Utilities Commission in July.

The PUC ordered the review of Central Maine Power’s management system in January 2020. The order followed an investigation of the utility’s rates.

Liberty Consulting Group of Lebanon, Pennsylvania, performed the audit of CMP, which is a subsidiary of Connecticut-based Avangrid. Iberdrola, which is headquartered in Bilbao, Spain, is the majority owner of Avangrid. Liberty Consulting found that management’s “overemphasizing of cuts and limits on resources as a means for closing gaps in meeting the earnings expectations of the equity investment community has sacrificed effectiveness in providing service.”

The audit delved into a number of complex management matters focusing on such issues as whether management structure had contributed to a decrease in customer service quality and if the effects of transferring personnel and decision-making from CMP to Avangrid had negatively affected customer service. Auditors said that since 2019, the company has made strides to improve its level of customer service, but cautioned it against complacency.

CMP said Wednesday that Adam Desrosiers, who was recently named vice president of electric operations, will have expanded responsibility, including vegetation management and substation maintenance and control center operations. The company also said it will add a new non-affiliated director from Maine to the board of its parent company.

In addition, the company said that its “customer champion,” Dawn Hill, will make regular presentations to the CMP board on customer needs, and that CMP has appointed a treasurer and controller to help link financial performance and local operations.

CMP reported last month that it has met or exceeded customer quality standards for more than 18 months and has been investing in its infrastructure to improve the reliability of its system.


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