New Jersey Watchdog's battle over the "secret" records of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative's cap-and-trade auctions will be waged in a Trenton courtroom.
Investigative reporter Mark Lagerkvist filed suit against the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection in Mercer County Superior Court for "wrongfully and knowingly" denying access. Under the state Open Public Records Act (OPRA), Lagerkvist is asking the court to order NJDEP to release documents showing who bought what at RGGI's auctions of carbon dioxide emission allowances.
In its first eight auctions, RGGI sold $662 million in CO-2 allowances, including $72 million in New Jersey permits. Those costs are eventually passed along to consumers in higher electric rates.
At the auctions, utilities competed with speculators and financial heavyweights like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Merrill Lunch and JPMorgan Chase, as reported by New Jersey Watchdog last month in an investigative report – "The Secrets Ten States & Wall Street Don't Want You to Know." Authorities have refused to identify auction winners and how many permits each purchased.
New Jersey Watchdog initially sought the records from RGGI, but the New York-based regional non-profit cooperative contends it is not a public agency subject to OPRA. The next request went to NJDEP, the agency that supervises New Jersey's participation in RGGI.
NJDEP claims it does not have the requested records – despite regulations mandating the agency to approve auction results, issue permits to winning bidders and oversee the allowance tracking system.
~ Watchdog.org ~
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