Energy Alliance cleared
A state investigation into Maine Green Energy Alliance's spending practices has found no wrongdoing other than poor accounting and oversight of its finances.
The now-defunct organization came under fire earlier this year for spending $500,000 of a $1.1 million federal grant to sign up just 50 homes for home energy audits and weatherization, far short of its goals, the Portland Press Herald reported. A legislative committee ordered an audit by the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability after questions were raised about the alliance's acquirement of the grant, its spending and hiring practices, and its links to the Democratic Party, the paper reports. Efficiency Maine Trust, the quasi-state agency that administered the federal energy grant, shut down the alliance in February, redirecting the remaining money to a home insulation program.
The audit's findings have not been publicly released, but officials told the paper that the alliance's staff kept receipts and that its spending appeared legitimate, even while the purposes of some spending weren't always well documented or authorized. The federal Department of Energy, which awarded the grant, also reviewed the case in June, but did not find any problems, the paper reported.
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