The Department of Public Service has been doing a pretty good job handling consumer complaints about the state’s water, heat and electrical utilities, according to an audit by Vermont State Auditor Doug Hoffer.
Hoffer’s office released an almost 30-page report this week looking at how the public service department investigates complaints filed with its Consumer Affairs and Public Information Division, or CAPI.
Hoffer found that, overall, the division was able to resolve the consumer complaints within 30 days, which is the established benchmark for the office.
“CAPI’s complaint handling program generally resulted in utility actions that addressed consumers’ issues within expected timeframes,” Hoffer wrote in the report. “In almost all the 45 complaints reviewed, utilities took action to address the consumers’ issues after being contacted by CAPI staff.”
Between Jan. 1, 2022 and Dec. 31, 2024, the division investigated nearly 3,000 consumer complaints, which were filed by customers who had some kind of problem with their electric, gas or water service.
Those complaints were generally about service disruptions, billing or customer service.
The Consumer Affairs and Public Information Division reviews each complaint, and then contacts the utility.
Once there is a resolution, the division reaches back out to the consumer.
The report found that the utility took action to address the complaints in 96% of cases reviewed by the auditor’s office.
“This goes to the heart of this team’s purpose and indeed the responsibility to serve as Vermonters’ advocate,” Department of Public Service Commissioner Kerrick Johnson wrote in response to that finding.
The report did highlight a handful of procedural shortcomings that the Consumer Affairs and Public Information Division needs to address, including inconsistencies and errors in the complaint handling data, and a flawed methodology to calculate performance measures for the staff.
“The Department agrees with nearly all the report’s findings,” Johnson wrote in his response to the report. “The Department supports the report’s conclusions that complaint handling would be strengthened by comprehensive written procedures providing clear expectations for staff. We will endeavor to advance those recommendations.”
