(Host) The state’s second largest electric utility has decided it will no longer use the troubled Arthur Andersen accounting firm. Green Mountain Power says its decision to switch accountants was not due to a disagreement with the firm over financial issues or accounting practices. Arthur Andersen has been implicated in a number of recent accounting scandals, including those at WorldCom and the Enron Corporation.
GMP Senior Vice President Stephen Terry says the company felt that even if Arthur Andersen survives, its longtime employees in New England would probably leave:
(Terry) “I think it is fair to say during the interviewing process they were involved in these high profile cases and even those the people we had worked with for years in the office in New England were not involved in these other issues. It was pretty clear to us that the firm itself was under terrific pressure and the highly skilled people that worked there were leaving or being recruited by the other firms.”
(Host) GMP has retained the Deloitte and Touche accounting firm as its independent auditor for the fiscal year ending in December.