Nestle pact hangs on PUC chairman's participation
A 25-year contract that would give Nestle Waters a steady supply of water from Fryeburg Water Co. could fall through following a series of conflict-of-interest developments on the Maine Public Utilities Commission.
The Portland Press Herald reported that one of the PUC’s three commissioners has recused himself from the proceedings and the possibility of another recusal could leave just one commissioner presiding over the case, rendering the commission unable to approve the contract. It needs at least two of its three commissioners present to approve any regulatory action.
Commissioner Mark Vannoy, who worked as a project manager for Wright-Pierce on around 20 Nestle Waters projects, has recused himself from the proceedings.
The paper reported PUC Chairman Tom Welch plans to make his recusal decision after a hearing Tuesday. Should he decide to recuse himself from the proceedings, the PUC would be unable to approve the contract. Welch represented Nestle Waters for several years as an attorney at Pierce Atwood, before joining the PUC in 2011. He helped the company through the reorganization of the Fryeburg Water Co., laying the groundwork for the contract now before the PUC.
Opponents of the contract, who say the deal would give up the town’s valuable resource for less than it’s worth, have begun calling for Welch’s recusal, which would, in turn, scuttle the deal. Proponents of the contract say such business partnerships have served the town well and that the 25-year deal would continue that trend.
Experts and past PUC officials told the paper the case also points to oversights in the appointment process, which resulted in a board of commissioners with similar backgrounds and thereby similar conflicts.
Public Advocate Timothy Schneider, who represented electricity and natural gas companies before the PUC while working as an attorney at Pierce Atwood, has also recused himself from the case.
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