NewPage’s
Rumford mill in Maine to pay $3 million to settle federal allegations it
manipulated regional energy market.
Rumford Paper
Co., which operates the paper mill in town, has agreed to pay more than $3
million to settle allegations brought by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission that it profited from manipulating New England's energy market.
In the consent agreement published Friday, Rumford Paper,
which is a subsidiary of Ohio-based NewPage Corp., agreed to a total fine of
$10 million and return of more than $3 million in payments FERC maintains the
Rumford mill received fraudulently through the manipulation of an electricity
program administered by ISO-New England that compensated large industrial
electricity users for reducing their electricity consumption during peak demand
hours.However, because NewPage filed for bankruptcy in September 2011, FERC has agreed to accept a cash payment of slightly more than $3 million to settle the case.
