NorthStar Consulting Group, was chosen by the New York State Public Service Commission in September 2023 to evaluate Avangrid, Inc’s companies NYSEG and RG&E. According to the findings NYSEG and RG&E showed a lack of transparency of utility allocations, inappropriate controls for customer service, and did not comply with regulatory requirements for reporting response times in emergency situations. (Photo by Kelli Miller)

NEW YORK — On May 19, the New York State Public Service Commission released the audit report of New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) Corporation and Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) Corporation.

An independent third party auditor, NorthStar Consulting Group, was chosen by the state commission in September 2023 to evaluate the operations and submit a draft of the audit once finalized.

Audit field work began in November 2023 and continued through October 2024. The final audit report was submitted on February 4 with 128 recommendations for the companies.

Commission Chair Rory M. Christian explained the scope of this audit gives value to NYSEG and RG&E customers, while offering a review of the utility operations.

“Department staff also identified certain audit findings and other information that certain company practices may be violations of commission regulations or orders; the companies will now have an opportunity to respond to Staff contentions,” said Christian.

It was noted, both companies must file a plan to rectify the findings by June 18. Department staff will review the plan to verify it addresses the findings in the report. 

The plan will then be submitted for public comment before revisions to determine if additional enforcement actions will take place.

The summarization of Northstar’s key findings and recommendations from the final report included government and management, physical and cyber security, information systems, electric operations, budget and finance, procurement, project management, work management, performance management, and customer operations.