NORWICH, CT – DECEMBER 28, 2018 – The Connecticut Municipal Electric Energy Cooperative (“CMEEC”) today released the results of the forensic examination report conducted by outside auditors of the organization’s revenues and expenditures for fiscal years 2013-2017. The examination was conducted by CohnReznick LLP and included a review of CMEEC’s compliance with Connecticut statutory requirements and CMEEC’s By-Laws. The full report has been posted on CMEEC’s website and provided to its members, and it will be provided to the Connecticut General Assembly as part of CMEEC’s annual report filing.
Included in the report are CohnReznick’s findings and recommendations, and the responses provided by CMEEC’s management. The responses (Exhibit V) provide additional context and outline a number of actions CMEEC has taken to strengthen its internal controls, including:
- Since 2017, CMEEC has been implementing best practices with respect to ensuring that all expense authorization and reimbursement is reasonable, demonstrably linked to a business purpose and includes substantiating documentary evidence;
- The CMEEC Board of Directors adopted on March 30, 2018 an Ethics and Conflict of Interest Policy;
- The CMEEC Board of Directors adopted on May 23, 2018 a Travel Policy covering both CMEEC Board Members and CMEEC Employees;
- Under the supervision of the Controller, Finance and Accounting staff are reviewing documentation submitted with expense authorization and reimbursement requests and monitoring compliance with the Travel and the Ethics and Conflict of Interest policies; and
- At the direction of CMEEC’s Interim-CEO, commencing in early January 2019, CMEEC will be conducting training for all employees to reinforce the requirements for support and documentation for expense authorization and reimbursement.
Interim CEO Mike Lane commented, “The completion of this examination by CohnReznick marks an important step forward for CMEEC. The findings and recommendations relate in large measure to the Board retreat and event expenditures that have previously been identified. CMEEC has and continues to put in place new rules and policies to strengthen our internal controls and ensure we are always acting in a way that is consistent with our mission to provide reliable, low cost energy solutions to our members and customers.”
Download the full report HERE.