Central Maine Power is at the bottom of the list for customer satisfaction, according to a new survey.
J.D. Power and Associates said Thursday that CMP scored worse than any electric utility nationwide.
The rankings are based on 21,000 interviews with business customers of 87 utilities.
The company previously had been ranked No. 1 in business customer satisfaction by J.D. Power.
CMP ranked below Pacific Gas and Electric, which has been criticized for intentional blackouts, intended to prevent wildfires in California.
PG&E filed for bankruptcy in January.
Following a record number of complaints about high bills and unexplained usage, the Maine Public Utilities Commission is investigating Central Maine Power’s metering and billing systems.
A separate investigation is looking into CMP’s handling of customer service issues.
Opponents of CMP’s proposed transmission corridor used the new rankings as an argument for why the $1 billion project should not move forward.
“CMP is worse to its customers than a company that’s literally setting its state on fire, and that’s exactly why CMP shouldn’t be trusted to build this corridor,” said Sandi Howard, director of Say No to NECEC. “CMP doesn’t even have a basic handle on how to provide safe power or accurate billing to ratepayers, so how can anyone think they’d be able to handle one of the biggest infrastructure projects in Maine history? There are so many reasons why so many Mainers oppose the corridor, and CMP’s terrible track record is at the top of the long list.”
CMP said in a statement that it’s committed to restoring the confidence of its customers.