Yukon government says ATCO will cover cost of audit into billing issues

In an Aug. 21 joint statement, Justice Minister Laura Lang and Energy, Mines and Resources Minister Ted Laking said the government has directed the utility to hire an independent third-party auditor at its own expense to “conduct a comprehensive review of its billing practices, systems and processes.”

Lang said the government directed ATCO to hire its own auditor to avoid passing the investigation’s cost on to taxpayers. She said an audit conducted through the Yukon Utilities Board would cost an estimated $300,000 to $500,000, which would be borne by Yukon taxpayers.

“That cost of the investigation is then borne within the public because it is public funds that are being spent to do that investigation,” Lang said in an interview.

“Minister Laking and myself, made the decision that the cost should not be borne by either the taxpayer or the ratepayer [so] we’ve directed ATCO, to hire a third party at their own expense.”

A letter sent to ATCO from the offices of ministers Lang and Laking on July 20, outlines the government’s expectations for the audit. Among the government’s directions, the audit is expected to review the billing accuracy and integrity of customer accounts, assess ATCO’s compliance with YUB orders regarding terms of service and rates, and provide a process to allow customers to have their individual billing and service concerns reviewed.

In response to the government’s announcement, the Yukon NDP released a statement on Aug. 24 denouncing the Yukon Party administration’s decision to pursue a private audit rather than an investigation through YUB.

In a statement included in Monday’s release, Yukon NDP leader, Kate White said that her party does not buy the government’s cost savings explanation and said that “in reality the Yukon Party government can decide how the investigation is paid for, and they have the power to ensure ratepayers aren’t the ones footing the bill.”

According to the Yukon NDP’s statement, a private third party audit falls short of the scope of a government inquiry which the Yukon NDP says should include the Yukon Energy Corporation as well as ATCO.

“Unfortunately, [the government] decided to leave ATCO to manage the investigation… and there is no guarantee that cost won’t be downloaded by ATCO to ratepayers,” said White.

The News asked Lang how the government intends to prevent ATCO from passing costs on to ratepayers. Lang said that while ATCO has been “very accepting” of the government’s directions so far, the YUB will still be acting in its capacity as a regulator to ensure ATCO does not pass this cost down to Yukon ratepayers when the board approves the utility’s next general rate application.

“They’ve agreed to our terms that they will not be passing it on,” said Lang.

“The Public Utilities Board is aware of this of course, so when [ATCO] comes forward for the general rate application, that is a component that will be ensured to not be included.

According to Lang, the government will also be “a very active participant” in the audit process.

The July 20 letter directs that the auditor communicate directly with the government through regular updates to ensure the process remains unbiased.

“There should be concern about bias influencing whatever the third party is seeing and then that coming to us,” Lang said.

“That will not happen. The information will be coming directly to us, and we will be a very active participant in overseeing and ensuring that there’s no bias, and that it’s completely neutral.”

Additionally, Lang said that should the government lose faith in ATCO or the auditor, the Yukon Utilities Board will be ready to step in and conduct its own audit to address issues as it sees fit.

“The public utilities board is sitting at the side waiting to see: Does this independent audit work for Yukoners enough that we are satisfied [and] can move forward with solutions? Or do we now need to enact the public utilities board to investigate further,” Lang said.

The final results of the audit will be made public along with the methodologies used to conduct the inquiry, recommendations, and an implementation plan by ATCO.

According to Lang, the private audit will also result in a far quicker turnaround time than an inquiry by the YUB.

“One of the nice things about this decision is that it should be a far more expeditious process in that we don’t have to go through the machinery of government to secure that auditor,” Lang said.

“Because it’s a private company, they will be able to move it in a far more efficient fashion.”

Lang said Yukoners can expect to see these results relatively soon with a final report expected between the end of September and early October.

Contact reporter Noah Korver at noah.korver@yukon-news.com