The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has been busy in Maine, recommending fines of more than $1 million in a case involving a Rumford paper mill and seeking more than $4 million in a case out of Lincoln County.

A Portland businessman is accused of giving fraudulent advice to Rumford Paper Co., and federal regulators say the scheme could have cost New England electricity consumers more than $3.3 million.

FERC has accused Richard Silkman of Competitive Energy Services of violating agency rules.

In a notice filed Tuesday, the federal energy regulators charged Silkman with scheming to manipulate the regional energy market. The commission has recommended a $1.25 million civil penalty.

Competitive Energy Services received $166,841 in revenue during the period, according to FERC.

According to the Portland Press Herald, regulators say Silkman gave fraudulent advice to Rumford Paper Co., owned by NewPage Corp. The advice involved a program run by New England’s grid operator, in which big power users are paid to reduce electricity consumption during times of high demand.

Silkman allegedly advised Rumford Paper to reduce its internal power generation and purchase energy for a five-day period, to set an artificial baseline. That benefited the paper mill when it was called on to reduce consumption over six months in 2007 and 2008.

In a statement, Competitive Energy Services denied suggestions that Silkman or Rumford Paper did anything improper.

Competitive Energy Services said it hadn’t violated any rules or regulations, and that the program cited by FERC was later found to have a design flaw and was terminated by the agency. It also says that until Tuesday, FERC never responded to any evidence the company submitted, although the FERC order claims it considered all of Silkman’s submissions.

Silkman, former director of the Maine State Planning Office, is considered an expert in Maine’s energy industry. According to the Press Herald, he has been involved in two small wind projects in Maine, Beaver Ridge Wind, which is operating, and Mount Harris Wind, which is on hold because of community opposition.

The order issued on Tuesday gives Silkman 30 days to file a response.

In what appears to be an unrelated story, the commission is seeking $4.4 million in civil penalties, plus $379,016 in unjust profits made by Lincoln Paper & Tissue. In that filing, FERC charges in documents released Wednesday that the paper maker fraudulently manipulated the energy market with electricity it sold to the New England power grid five years ago.

LP&T President and CEO Keith Van Scotter told the Bangor Daily News that the allegations were part of a dispute with the energy regulatory body over interpretations of guidelines for an ISO New England power management plan in which the company had participated.

“This is stuff that is five years old,” Van Scotter said Wednesday. “The last conversation we had with them was almost two years ago. We are very upset and we strongly dispute their findings.”

He added, “What they are proposing just doesn’t make any sense and what they are alleging we strongly disagree with. We just have to wonder why this is something they sat on so long and then just dropped on us yesterday.”

In an order dated Tuesday, the commission alleged that Van Scotter and other mill managers “deliberately curtailed internal generation at the mill by approximately 3 (megawatts) during the five-day period when Lincoln’s initial baseline load was established” for the IS0 New England power management plan in 2007-08.

Instead of operating the generator to supply Lincoln with virtually all of its energy needs, about 20 megawatts, “Lincoln curtailed its generator and bought replacement energy during the baseline period at a $10,000 cost,” the order reads. “By purchasing energy, instead of producing it on-site, Lincoln reported larger energy consumption to ISO-New England than otherwise would have been the case, thereby establishing a false and inflated baseline.”

The commission alleges that New England consumers paid $445,901 for demand response that never occurred, with Lincoln receiving $379,016 in revenues.