Francis X. Ryan v. Department of Public Utilities (SPR 20253802)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 29, 2025 SPR25/3802 Mathieu Cunha, Esq. Records Access Officer Department of Public Utilities One South Station Boston, MA 02210 Dear Attorney Cunha: On December 23, 2025, this office received your petition on behalf of the Department of Public Utilities (Department) seeking permission to charge for time spent segregating or redacting responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, it is my understanding that the Department furnished a copy of the petition to the requestor, Francis X. Ryan, of the Patriot Foundation. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On December 9, 2025, Mr. Ryan requested the following: [1] Any correspondence with anyone from the domain @nyu.edu or @Bloomberg.org related to any programs of NYU, including but not limited to any programs, seminars, publications or offers to make arrangements with respect to provision or education of personnel from the NYU Law School State Impact Center (a/k/a “State Impact Center” or “SIC”)[;] [2] Any correspondence with [16 identified individuals] . . .[;] [3] Any correspondence with anyone from the domain @advancedeneryunited.org including but not limited to any programs, seminars, publications or offers to make arrangements with respect to provision or education of personnel from Advanced Energy United[;] [4] Any correspondence indicating that your office accepted the State Impact Center or Advanced Energy United’s offer to provide any personnel or support in the form of a Fellow or any similar arrangement and provide the following: [a] Any agreement between your office and the State Impact Center, NYU, or Advanced Energy United[;] [b] Any correspondence related to any such agreement[;] [c] Records of any payments provided to your office for any Fellow or person in a similar position[;] [5] Documents reflecting any costs or expenses incurred by your office in hosting 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

Mathieu Cunha, Esq. SPR25/3802 Page 2 December 29, 2025 a State Impact Center Fellow or personnel supplied by Advanced Energy United including by not limited to: [a] Overhead costs[;] [b] IT Support[;] [c] Travel costs[;] [d] Costs incurred for travel to any educational or other programmatic conferences[;] [e] Bar dues or court fees[;] [f] Pro hac vice costs[;] [6] Copies of the calendars from dates of employment for any Fellow or personnel provided under any similar arrangement with the State Impact Center or New York University[;] [7] Copies of any regulatory proposals or submissions prepared or signed by any Fellow or Special Assistant Attorney General (“SAAG”) or personnel provided under any similar arrangement with Advanced Energy United, the State Impact Center or New York University[;] [8] Copies of any lawsuit prepared or signed by any Fellow or SAAG or personnel provided under any similar arrangement with Advanced Energy United, the State Impact Center or New York University[;] [9] Copies of any amicus brief prepared or signed by any Fellow or SAAG or personnel provided under any similar arrangement with Advanced Energy United, the State Impact Center or New York University[;] [10] Copies of any law review articles, editorials or op-ed pieces prepared or signed by any Fellow or SAAG or personnel provided under any similar arrangement with Advanced Energy United, the State Impact Center or New York University[;] [11] Copies of any Civil Investigative Demand prepared or signed by any Fellow or SAAG or personnel provided under any similar arrangement with Advanced Energy United, the State Impact Center or New York University[;] [12] Records related to any regulatory matter in which any Fellow or personnel provided under any similar arrangement with Advanced Energy United, the State Impact Center or New York University has been involved[;] [13] Copies of any documents provided to Congressional committees or investigators related to the State Impact Center or Advanced Energy United. Petition to Assess Fees – Agencies A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10 (d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). In rendering such a decision, the Supervisor is required to consider the following: a) the public interest served by limiting the cost of public access to the records; b) the financial ability of the requestor to pay the additional or increased fees; and c) any other relevant extenuating

Mathieu Cunha, Esq. SPR25/3802 Page 3 December 29, 2025 circumstances. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). The statute sets out a two-prong test for determining whether the Supervisor may approve an agency’s petition to allow the agency to charge for time spent segregating or redacting records. The first prong is whether the request for records was made for a commercial purpose. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). It is my understanding that this request was not made for a commercial purpose. The second prong of the test is whether the fee represents an actual and good faith representation by the agency to comply with the request. The Supervisor must consider 1) if the fee is necessary such that the request could not have been prudently completed without the redaction or segregation; 2) the amount of the fee is reasonable; and 3) the fee is not designed to limit, deter or prevent access to requested public records. Id. Petitions seeking a waiver of statutory limits to fees assessed to segregate and/or redact public records must be made within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). Fee Estimates – Agencies An agency may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(i). Agencies may not assess a fee for the first four (4) hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(ii). Where appropriate, agencies may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. Current Petition Subsequent to the opening of this petition, in an email to the Department and this office on December 23, 2025, a representative of Holtzman Vogel Baran Torchinsky & Josefiak, PLLC stated, “we are willing to work with [the Department] to limit the scope of our request. . . . Please limit your search to documents with references to the [‘]State Impact Center[’] or [‘]Advanced Energy United[’] from 2023 to the present or emails with anyone from the domain @advancedeneryunited.org or @nyu.edu.”

Mathieu Cunha, Esq. SPR25/3802 Page 4 December 29, 2025 Conclusion In light of the decision to modify the scope of the request, it is unnecessary to opine on the Department’s petition for permission to charge for time spent segregating or redacting responsive records. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Francis X. Ryan Andrew Episkopos, Esq.