FERC approved an agreement among Versant Power, the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and Maine Office of the Public Advocate (OPA) related to improperly classified expenses that resulted in the overbilling of wholesale transmission customers (ER23-1598).

The issues were first identified in a 2021 audit report issued by the Commission’s Office of Enforcement, which found that Versant improperly capitalized about $18 million in overhead costs, causing the company to overcharge transmission customers.

The company issued refunds in May 2022 and filed in April 2023 to recover some of the overhead costs over an extended period.

The Maine PUC protested this filing, expressing concern about its lack of refunds for retail customers, the potential double-charging of retail customers during the recovery process, and the potential for the proposal to “improperly result in wholesale and retail customers paying Versant a rate-of-return on improperly collected costs.”

In September, Versant submitted an agreement signed by the company, the PUC and OPA to resolve the issues raised by the PUC and establish a process for the company to recover the overhead costs.

The parties agreed to amortize about $15.6 million over eight years, intended to account for the difference between the overhead costs and the refunds owed to retail customers.

On Nov. 28, FERC ruled the agreement “appears to be fair and reasonable and in the public interest and we therefore approve it.”

A spokesperson for Versant told RTO Insider the settlement is fair and “beneficial to both the company and our customers.”