JAMESTOWN – A recent audit by the State Comptroller’s office has found the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities did not adopt adequate written policies or procedures and management did not provide sufficient oversight regarding the BPU’s Energy Efficiency and Residential Recycling Credit Program.
The audit covered the time period from Jan. 1, 2014 through June 27, 2017.
ENERGY EFFICIENCY FINDINGS
Through its energy rebate program, the BPU issues rebates and credits to customers who purchase and install certain energy efficient equipment, lighting, and other materials. The BPU will issue a rebate and/or credits to customers after they submitted an application and provide sufficient documentation demonstrating that an eligible purchase and installation has been completed. The BPU’s Energy Efficiency Program Coordinator and customer service department approve, process and retained customer applications.
To recover associated costs of the program, the BPU collected a surcharge from its electric customers. According to information provided by BPU officials, since inception, approximately $3.5 million has been spent on the program and electric consumption has been reduced by 16 million kilowatt-hours.
The audit found that even though the BPU annually adopted energy program guidelines establishing rates and eligibility criteria, BPU management did not implement procedures to ensure that all rebates and credits were accurately processed in accordance with these guidelines.
It also found 26 applications for energy rebates totaling $127,000 did not have sufficient technical documentation attached and 25 totaling $150,876 did not have required documentation to clearly identify the type and/or quantity of materials purchased.
RECYCLING PROGRAM FINDINGS
The audit also found that standard BPU Recycling credits were processed correctly, but Manual Recycling Credits were processed without adequate oversight.
Under the BPU’s recycling program, customers are charged a flat rate for garbage removal, but will be given a discount credit off their bill if they participate in recycling during the the billing period. The BPU tracks recycling participation by scanning bar codes located on recycling bins used by customers.
The comptroller’s office learned that BPU employees used their own discretion when adding credits based on customer complaints, customers claiming they were unable to put out their recycling, and when processing final bills for customers who moved to new locations.
The audit also said that because BPU management did not establish adequate review procedures or provide appropriate oversight, making it unaware that employees were not adequately reviewing applications. The BPU also did not establish policies or procedures addressing how applications submitted by BPU employees and their relatives should be approved and processed and no policies existed to prevent or prohibit employees from approving and processing their own applications.
BPU AGREES WITH RECOMMENDED CORRECTIVE ACTIONS
The report provided a series of recommendations to address the oversights, and in a response to the initial draft audit, BPU officials agreed with the recommendations and indicated they planned to initiate corrective action.
More details on the audit, including a link to the full report, can be found at the state comptroller’s website.
Leave a Reply