Guest summarizes special session; Public Advocate sampling finds CMP smart-meter failures, residents urged to file complaints

At a meeting of the selectboard, a guest speaker summarized outcomes from a recent legislative special session and reported a detailed consumer-utility concern affecting local ratepayers.

The guest said one transportation bond of $100 million passed while several longer-term investment bonds, including broadband and wastewater infrastructure funding that could have benefited Litchfield, were turned down. He warned that some of the rejected bonds were "most unfortunate" for towns, including broadband expansion earmarked for parts of the state. "We did come to agreement on one bond ... the rest of them got turned down," he said.

The speaker then reviewed findings from the Public Utilities Commission staff and the Public Advocate related to CMP (Central Maine Power) smart meters. Drawing on the Public Advocate's sampling, he described a fault that surfaces after a power outage: "The malfunction that they discovered due to a lack of maintenance on the meters is triggered when you lose power and when power is restored some meters ... either not recording any electric use or recording two to four times electric use," he said. The defect, he said, has existed for about five years and in some cases will persist until an outage or a direct complaint prompts company action.

He advised affected residents to file a complaint with CMP and to lodge a separate complaint with the Public Utilities Commission so there is an official record. The speaker also noted a pending class-action lawsuit is awaiting PUC findings. The transcript records no formal town action on the issue; the guest offered information and urged constituents to pursue individual complaints.