AUBURN — With growth of more than 7,000 percent in the past three years, Provider Power, the parent company of Electricity Maine, was named no. 33 on the list of the 5,000 fastest-growing companies in America by Inc. Magazine on Tuesday.
“I’ve been reading that magazine for over a decade; I always thought it would be great to be on the list,” said Kevin Dean, who co-owns Provider Power with Emile Clavet. “I think there’s a lot of people that thought competition didn’t exist in Maine or no one would be able to bring a residential product to the forefront. It’s just exposure for us and validation for our business model.”
Founded in 2009, Electricity Maine is one of several competitive energy providers licensed by the Public Utilities Commission. It’s credited with introducing choice to the residential market, which had been considered less lucrative than going after commercial and industrial users.
Electricity Maine has 180,000 utility customers; sister company ENH Power in New Hampshire has another 60,000. Provider Power, headquartered in Auburn, has 50 employees serving both states and had revenue of $56.8 million last year.
Dean and Clavet own a second company that also made Inc.’s list for the first time, Health Affiliates Maine at no. 1,051.
“It was pretty cool to make it in two separate industries in the same year,” Dean said. “We built those companies in the middle of a recession.”
HAM, also founded in 2009, has 250 employees in Maine, with 60 in Auburn, and formed after Possibilities Counseling closed.
“So many people were displaced,” Dean said. “What we’ve been growing the last three years is a case management program that didn’t exist there and we just got licensed for substance abuse and chemical dependence.”
The companies are on Rodman Road and Center Street. Dean said they’re looking elsewhere in the city to expand.
“I think we’ll double again over the next couple, three years in both companies,” he said.
In Inc.’s rankings, Electricity Maine also came in second in the list of the top-growing 100 energy companies.
The company started with a philosophy that it would always be lower than Maine’s standard offer, the default price for power paid by people who don’t choose a provider.
Early this month, the PUC closed an informal inquiry into Electricity Maine over ads run this spring. The agency questioned radio ads that said, “If your power bill says standard offer, you’re paying too much,” and separate claims that customers would “save nearly $7 million in 2013.” At the time, two of Electricity Maine’s three plans were higher than the standard offer.
The company told the PUC the savings statement was a mistake and should have indicated savings from 2011 to 2013. Dean also said Electricity Maine’s ads run on 20 stations and that one station was airing old copy.
Electricity Maine agreed to mail letters to customers who signed up or renewed between Jan. 1 and April 30, detailing current rates and giving customers 21 days to switch plans or revert to the standard offer.
Eric Bryant, senior counsel at the Maine Public Advocate’s Office, said he was satisfied with that outcome, that customers would have enough information to decide the best option for themselves.
Dean said roughly 1,000 letters went out; only one person switched to the standard offer.
Electricity Maine’s current plans: A 24-month “MaineStrong” rate of 8.49 cents/kWh and a 12-month “MaineSafe” rate of 7.98 cents/kWh.
The standard offer, through February 2014, is 6.826 cents/kWh.
The company’s new hook: Giving back with its “Power to help” campaign.
“Our goal is to have several million dollars annually go to local charities,” Dean said. “It’s basically about 25 percent of net profits. It’s a significant share.”
Both Dean and Clavet live in Auburn and co-own 20 businesses together, from a Texas marina to hotels in Bangor.
“These are the first publicly-visible companies,” he said of Electricity Maine and HAM.
They weren’t the only two local companies to be recognized.
Thirteen Maine companies made the Inc.’s 5,000 list, including Argo Marketing Group headquartered in Lewiston (no. 1,469, $4.1 million in sales, 272 percent growth) and Vets First Choice in Portland (no. 25, $14.6 million in sales, 8,585 percent growth.)
kskelton@sunjournal.com
Send questions/comments to the editors.
