State auditor praises DPS consumer-assistance work but flags unfinished 2016 CPG monitoring requirement

Deputy State Auditor Tim Ash told the House Energy and Digital Infrastructure Committee that the auditor's office recently released a series of audits assessing how state agencies respond when Vermonters report problems. Ash said the Department of Public Service's consumer-assistance program performed well overall but that auditors found opportunities for clearer data and follow-up.

"State auditor says public service department does a good job handling utility consumer complaints," Ash said, noting the department received roughly 3,000 complaint calls across the 2022'2024 audit sample. He added auditors found the department "generally responsive and quick" to reply to consumer calls but not consistent in documentation and trend analysis.

Ash emphasized one discrete statutory issue: a 2016 legislative directive asked the Department of Public Service to recommend how compliance with Certificates of Public Good (CPGs) should be monitored so that neighbors would not have to act as the sole enforcers of conditions tied to projects such as wind farms. "Back in 2016, the legislature required the Department of Public Service to come back to the legislature with recommendations on how compliance with CPGs could be monitored," he said, and auditors want the department to close that loop.

Senior auditor Andrew Keegan told the committee that auditors found a small number of CPG-related complaints in recent years: "there were roughly 20 complaints between 2017 and 2025," though earlier construction periods (2012'15) generated higher volumes tied to several projects. Committee members and auditors agreed that while the total is small relative to the broader complaint caseload, the underlying impacts (for example noise complaints and property damage from blasting) matter to affected residents.

A recurring audit finding was data quality. Auditors said the department sometimes counted routine information requests and quick lookups as "complaints," which inflated reported volumes and made performance measures misleading. Ash recommended clearer definitions, better tracking of repeat contacts, and more consumer follow-up surveys so managers can know whether people felt their cases were resolved.

Committee members asked whether the auditor's office will draw cross-cutting lessons from multiple audits focused on customer service; Ash said the plan is to produce a capstone summary of common themes once the four related audits are complete.

The committee asked DPS to return with its recommended approach to the 2016 CPG monitoring requirement. Ash said DPS has accepted the auditors' recommendations and will present its view to the committee in coming months. The committee also directed staff to post the audit report to the committee record.