PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • December 6, 2021
A small, recently established consulting firm is behind the stunning fraud allegations against Central Maine Power’s parent company. Security Limits Inc., based in Jessup, Pennsylvania, and its CEO, Paulo Silva, filed a federal lawsuit accusing Avangrid of rigging bids, racketeering and buying unnecessary equipment so it could charge higher electricity rates on customers and increase its profits. Silva consulted for Avangrid from February 2018 to September 2019, according to his profile. Among the accusations in Security Limits’ lawsuit, it says Avangrid bought “tens of millions of dollars” of equipment from a competitor of the plaintiff “at premium prices and with no competition” and then stored the equipment in warehouses in Maine and New York. The purchases allowed Avangrid to justify greater profits when seeking rate increases, it says. Avangrid has described Silva as a disgruntled former contractor.