P.U.C. Defends Itself from Picture of Audit

The Public Utilities Commission, or more specifically its members past and present, say they feel hard done by in recent media coverage of a set of documents which purport to show rampant spending since the beginning of John Avery’s tenure as chairman in 2008. Avery today presented what he says is the final independent audit report for 2016-2017, done by CPA Cedric Flowers. At a press conference this afternoon, Avery said the documentation received by most media houses was improperly lifted and in some cases manipulated by a former employee who did not have specific access to proper records of the Commission.

John Avery

John Avery, Chair, Public Utilities Commission

“I’m saying if you have any file and you click on that file and you go to Properties, it will tell you on whose computer it was done; if that person has his name on his computer. And you can check that for yourself; I won’t say anything. Definitely the person that authored those is not the auditor and does not work for the auditor.”

Reporter

“So you think that was done specifically to try and smear the reputation of…”

John Avery

“Basically; I’ll show you a simple thing because we got copies of those files. The P.U.C. doesn’t keep any records on Excel. That person took – had access to our computerized records and took the information off and put it in an Excel file and manipulated that to tell the story he wanted to tell.”

Reporter

“So it’s a pure fabrication?”

John Avery

“I’m not saying that some of the figures and that sort of thing in the details aren’t accurate. But I am saying I can’t verify them; we don’t know. But clearly that person manipulated those to tell a particular story.”