Erin M. O'Toole, Esq. v. Department of Public Utilities - Legal Division (SPR 20180119)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Connnonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords January 31, 2018 SPR18/119 Rachel Cottle Records Access Officer Department of Public Utilities One South Station, 5th Floor Boston, MA 02110 Dear Ms. Cottle: I have received your petition on behalf of the Department of Public Utilities (Department or DPU) seeking an extension of time to furnish copies of a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). As required by law, the Department furnished a copy of this petition to the requester. G. L. c. 66, § IO(c), (d)(iv)(2). On December 22, 2017, Erin O'Toole requested 6 categories of records in relation to Cape Light Compact or Cape Light Compact JPE for the period of January 1, 2016 to the present. Petitions/or an extension of time Under the Public Records Law, upon a showing of good cause, the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may grant a single extension to an agency not to exceed 20 business days and a single extension to a municipality not to exceed 3 0 business days. In determining whether there has been a showing of good cause, the Supervisor shall consider, but shall not be limited to considering: (i) the need to search for, collect, segregate or examine records; (ii) the scope of redaction required to prevent unlawful disclosure; (iii) the capacity or the normal business hours of operation of the agency or municipality to produce the request without the extension; (iv) efforts undertaken by the agency or municipality in fulfilling the current request and previous requests; (v) whether the request, either individually or as part of a series of requests from the same requestor, is frivolous or intended to harass or intimidate the agency or municipality; and (vi) the public interest served by expeditious disclosure. G. L. c. 66, § lO(c). One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Rachel Cottle SPR18/119 Page 2 January 31, 2018 The filing of a petition does not affect the requirement that a Records Access Officer (RAO) shall provide an initial response to a requester within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 36.06(4 )(b ). Conclusion In an email sent to this office on January 29, 2018, you indicate "DPU no longer requires an extension of time to produce a response to the public records request described in our petition dated January 24, 2018." Accordingly, I find in light of the Department's January 29th email, it is unnecessary to opine on the Department's petition .. Sincerely, ~ r a ~ Supervisor of Records cc: Erin O'Toole