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Former Fossil Industry Lobbyists Is Sabotaging Murphy Renewable Energy Goals

Role As Fossil Energy Lobbyists Creates Gross Conflicts of Interest

Today we filed a petition with NJ Gov. Murphy’s Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal to remove BPU Commissioner Richard Mroz for gross conflicts of interest and a continuing pattern of conduct that evidences political partisanship and a lack of required objectivity, impartiality, and independence.

The petition also was filed with the State Ethics Commission pursuant to 52:13D-12 et seq, which provides these Legislative findings

The Legislature finds and declares:

(a) In our representative form of government, it is essential that the conduct of public officials and employees shall hold the respect and confidence of the people. Public officials must, therefore, avoid conduct which is in violation of their public trust or which creates a justifiable impression among the public that such trust is being violated.

The petition was also filed with BPU President Fiordaliso:

The Board is considered a quasi-judicial body, meaning that it functions similar to a court or judge. Anyone may file a petition (or a request for action) asking the Board to consider a matter within its jurisdiction

Commissioner Mroz has both the appearance of and actual conflicts of interest (i.e. meets the ethics standard of “a justifiable impression among the public”), is biased in favor of fossil energy and against renewable energy, fails to recognize the science of and act upon climate change, and lacks independent judgment and impartiality required to fulfill his quasi-judicial role as a BPU Commissioner in accordance with NJ law, including the Administrative Procedure Act, State Ethics Act, and BPU’s enabling authority.

BPU Commissioners must have no relationship to regulated entities:

48:2-8. Connection with public utilities or governmental office prohibited

No member or employee of the board shall have any official or professional relation or connection with, or hold any stock or securities in, any public utility as herein defined, operating within this State, or hold any other office of profit or trust under the government of this State or of the United States.

The NJ Supreme Court has highlighted the importance of impartiality and objectivity in quasi-judicial regulatory deliberations:

The primary reason for establishing the Office of Administrative Law was “to bring impartiality and objectivity to agency hearings and ultimately to achieve higher levels of fairness in administrative adjudications.” Horn, 85 N.J. at 650, quoted in N.J. Civil Service, 88 N.J. at 609. Through the OAL, the Legislature intended to provide “a new system of administrative adjudication, promoting justice through uniformity and independence.”

We argue that Mroz has engaged in a pattern of conduct that fails to comply with his legal obligations in a manner that evidences bias and lack of impartiality and objectivity. Based on recent public statements regarding development of offshore wind (see NJ Spotlight, 3/1/18), Mroz persists in a biased and partisan fashion.

Mroz can not remedy his bias and conflicts via case-by-case recusals and therefore must be removed.

Commissioner Mroz served as former Gov. Christie’s BPU President and aggressively pushed a series of controversial fossil fueled pipelines and gas power plants through the BPU approval process.

He presided over BPU approvals that provided special favors to politically connected fossil fuel projects represented by the notorious criminal law firm Wolff & Samson, including subsidies, exemptions from various special charges, and secret “confidentiality agreements”, all contrary to the public interest and benefiting his former industry colleagues he represented as a lobbyist.

Mroz was a loyal Christie Lieutenant, who justified these fossil approvals as part of Gov. Christie’s Energy Master Plan, while virtually ignoring climate change and the greenhouse gas emissions reduction goals established by the NJ Legislature in the Global Warming Response Act and more specifically by NJSA 48:3-87 Environmental disclosure requirements; standards; rules.

(2)By July 1, 2009, the board shall adopt, pursuant to the “Administrative Procedure Act,” P.L.1968, c.410 (C.52:14B-1 et seq.), a greenhouse gas emissions portfolio standard to mitigate leakage or another regulatory mechanism to mitigate leakage applicable to all electric power suppliers and basic generation service providers that provide electricity to customers within the State.

Mroz also failed to implement the mandatory requirements of the Off Shore Wind Act, PL 2010, c.57:

Mroz also destabilized the solar industry during his BPU leadership.

Mroz is former gas industry lobbyist. He has a gross conflict of interest and has abused ethical norms by failing to disclose his conflicts and recuse himself from BPU decisions that benefit his former legal and lobby clients and members and associates at NJ Energy Coalition.

Specifically, Mr. Mroz was a founder, lobbyist, and senior advisor to the NJ Energy Coalition. 

Here is how Ed Salmon, the current Chairman NJ Energy Coalition describes the founding in testimony to the NJ Senate:

In August 2007, my partner Richard Mroz and I launched a new statewide organization – The New Jersey Energy Coalition. The Coalition’s focus is to provide a reliable third-party voice in the discussion on New Jersey’s energy needs. The Coalition was very involved in the New Jersey Energy Master Plan and has provided discussion and educational initiatives on energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, generation needs, and transmission challenges, to name a few.

Here is the 2007 launch press coverage – note that specific existing corporate energy facilities are mentioned, so the Coalition was far more than some generic “reliable third party voice”. They represented specific corporate interests and continue to do so. The Link to then existing NJEC is dead

Here are just some of the members of the NJ Energy Coalition, which include the law firm that represented South Jersey Gas and corporate interests in the Pinelands pipeline and BL England battles, including pipeline and natural gas companies that regularly appear before BPU and economically benefit from BPU approvals:

Cozen O’Connor: Cozen O’Connor is one of the top law firms in the country, employing over 600 attorneys in cities spanning two continents. This international firm has practices in litigation, business law and government relations.

New Jersey Natural Gas: New Jersey Natural Gas is a New Jersey Resources company dedicated to providing safe, reliable, and competitively priced natural gas services including transportation, distribution, and asset management.

NJ Petroleum Council: The New Jersey Petroleum Council is a state council of the American Petroleum Institute, that helps companies follow the status of regulatory and legislative issues impacting the oil and natural gas industries.

Orange & Rockland: Orange and Rockland is a gas utility headquartered in New York, and with its two subsidiaries serves over 750,000 people in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.

PennEast Pipeline Company: PennEast Pipeline Company is made up of six companies; AGL Resources, NJR Pipeline Company, PSE&G Power, South Jersey Industries, Spectra Energy, and UGL Industries. The company has plans to create the PennEast Pipeline that will provide customers with savings due to the reduced price of the transportation and the cost of natural gas.

Public Service Enterprise Group: Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) is a publicly traded diversified energy company headquartered in New Jersey, and one of the ten largest electric companies in the U.S. PSEG’s principal subsidiaries are: Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G), PSEG Power and PSEG Energy Holdings.

RC Cape May Holdings: RC Cape May Holdings is an entity formed by Rockland Capital, Energy Investors Funds and other investors in order to acquire the BL England Power Station.

South Jersey Gas: South Jersey Gas serves customers in 112 municipalities spanning over 2,500 square miles, or one-third of the geographic area of New Jersey. This service area includes all of Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and Salem counties and parts of Burlington, Camden and Gloucester counties. The majority of new home construction on their mains choose to heat with natural gas.

Here is Mr. Mroz’s BPU bio: note boldface:

Before becoming President of the NJBPU he worked in private practice as a lawyer and lobbyist as Managing Director of Archer Public Affairs in Trenton, New Jersey and Of Counsel to Archer & Greiner P.C., in Haddonfield, New Jersey.

Here is how Archer Public Affairs describes their work (emphasis mine):

 HELPED ENERGY CO. SUCCESSFULLY RESPOND TO CRUDE OIL SPILL CRISIS

• Represented energy company regarding multi-million gallon crude oil spill at a refinery, a high-profile event because fumes reached neighborhoods for miles around.
• Served as liaison between the company and state government regulators.
• Conducted numerous conversations, conferences and correspondence with ground-level regulatory staff and high-level elected and appointed officials, keeping them apprised of issues and progress, and relaying information to the client as needed.
• Cleanup and state inspection went smoothly; government officials appreciated easy access to updates and information.
• Importantly, about a month before the spill, the firm had arranged a meet-and-greet with state officials, a recent contact that helped immeasurably during the emergent situation.

Here is “Sourcewatch” database on the NJ Energy Coalition which cites the group’s website:

Leadership

From the group’s website: [16]

• Dr. Edward H. Salmon, chairman – He also founded Salmon Ventures, “a strategic consulting firm based in New Jersey.”
• Richard S. Mroz, senior advisor – He “served as Chief Counsel to Governor Christie Todd-Whitman and was responsible for legislative affairs, negotiating the state budget, and advising the Governor and legal and policy matters. He also served as the Governor’s counsel and liaison for the state’s largest independent authorities including the Turnpike Authority, Water Supply Authority and New Jersey and the Environmental Infrastructure Trust.”

We urge our former colleagues in the NJ public interest community to join in our petition or file their own.

Christie Holdovers Now Openly Sandbagging Murphy’s Policy Commitments

No appointments in place at DEP, Highlands and Pinelands

Senator Sweeney’s Mole as Chief of Staff at DEP

What the hell is going on?

One way President Trump is radically dismantling government is by failure to make appointments to fill vacancies at key federal agencies: see NPR, “Hollow government by design” (a variant of Grover Norquist’s strategy of drowning government in the bathtub) and by appointing incompetent, unqualified, ideological hacks, and/or industry lobbyists to key policy positions (think EPA’s Scott Pruitt).

[Update 3/7/18 – Echoing the point I made above, today Propublica released this bombshell on Trump appointments, see:  Meet the Hundreds of Officials Trump Has Quietly Installed Across the Government , Fine minds do think alike, but some get ignored. ~~~ end update]

Something similar but not quite as extreme is happening in NJ due to inaction by Gov. Murphy.

He seems unwilling or incapable of getting his own people (or good people) in office and purging Gov. Christie’s holdovers who are sabotaging his agenda.

NJ Spotlight reports today that Gov. Christie’s BPU President and former fossil energy industry lobbyist Richard Mroz and patronage BPU appointment Dianne Solomon are openly sabotaging Gov. Murphy’s renewable energy commitments on wind.

[Clarification: a reader notes that BPU Commissioners enjoy 6 years terms and Mroz and Solomon have at least a year to go – thus Murphy can’t replace them. But that doesn’t absolve Murphy for DEP or Highlands or Pinelands inaction, or agreeing to Sweeney’s aid as DEP Chief of Staff, or not moderating Mroz & Solomon’s overtly partisan attacks. All are signs of weakness or lack of resolve. In contrast, I never recall Democratic appointee go along to get along Joe Fiordaliso attacking Gov. Christie policies. Or Democrat Commissioner Chivukula. Dems roll over again and again.]

Mroz threw an economic monkey-wrench into Murphy’s wind policy – the same rationale he used to kill  wind for 8 years. Spotlight reported:

BPU Commissioner Richard Mroz cautioned about those costs.

“As of this day, we have no foundation to know what offshore wind will cost,” said Mroz, who during a stint as agency president under Christie took no action to push the technology forward, nor the regulations to finance the offshore wind farms. “In the future, we will confront very tough decisions to make.”

Republican Solomon – wife of Lee Solomon, Gov. Christie’s climate denying first BPU President  and NJ Supreme Court pick– piled on: (Spotlight)

Fellow BPU Commissioner Diane Solomon agreed. Referring to offshore wind, Solomon, a fellow Republican, said: “It must be economically competitive and benefit ratepayers. It’s prudent to move ahead cautiously.”

And we predicted that Gov. Murphy’s BPU President, go along to get along “Pipeline Joe” Fiordaliso, would not be a leader at BPU. Latest evidence: check out this equivocation that inspires zero confidence in BPU’s ability to deliver on Gov. Murphy’s commitments:(Spotlight)

I believe we have a moral obligation to mitigate the effects of climate, change,” Fiordaliso said. “Will we be successful? I don’t know, but we won’t be if we don’t try.”

No timeframe

But Fiordaliso declined to project a timeframe for how long it would take to develop the regulations, nor the strategic plan for offshore wind.

What the hell is going on?

That open sandbagging and flaccid “leadership” prompted me to followup on a prior post about Senator Sweeney’s block on confirmation of Murphy’s DEP Commissioner, and McCabe’s own first mis-step in selection of her Deputy Commissioner .

The current reality is actually worse than I imagined.

I)  Let’s first look at DEP

Aside from Deputy Commissioner mis-step, Acting Commissioner McCabe’s only other personnel decision was installing Eric Wachter as Chief of Staff Government/Legislative Affairs. That’s actually worse than Debbie Mans.

Mr. Wachter is a policy lightweight – he has zero environmental science, law, or policy background or advocacy experience.

He was an administrative gopher and loyal paper pusher for Lisa Jackson at DEP and US EPA.

Worse, Wachter is a Sweeney mole. As Insider NJ reported on August 29, 2017:

Senator Sweeney also announced the hiring of Eric Wachter as a Deputy Executive Director in the Senate Majority Office.

“Eric brings experience at both the state and federal levels to the position and has the knowledge and background to hit the ground running. I know he will make a great addition to the Senate Majority Office staff and am pleased to have him join our team,” said Senator Sweeney.

…  Wachter earned a bachelor’s degree in political science and a master’s degree in nonprofit administration from the University of Notre Dame.

In addition to two bad personnel decisions, Acting Commissioner McCabe has not named her own management team.

There also are several Christie Administration “regulatory relief” policy Offices and political patronage appointees of “culture change” Bob Martin that remain at McCabe’s DEP, including: (these are just a few of the political appointees. And Bob Martin’s entire DEP management team and many lower level loyalists are still in place):

1) Bob Bostock – a former Christie Whitman hack and still head of Murphy DEP Commissioner’s Communications Office.

2)  Lawrence Hajna – still spinning the science and downplaying risks at Murphy DEP Press Office

3) Raymond S. Papperman – Martin patronage appointment and still working in McCabe’s Commissioner’s Office.

4) Bob Martin’s Office of Economic Analysis, headed by Director Ben Witherell, still advocating Martin’s policy that DEP’s mission includes promotion of economic development and Christie’s cost benefit analysis policy under EO#2.

There have been no public statements or mention of any DEP reform priorities or new policy initiatives.

II)  Let’s Look At Executive Orders

Worse, while Gov. Murphy has found the time to issue a series of hollow symbolic Executive Orders on promoting wind (just sandbagged by his BPU!), rejoining a lame RGGI – with a rhetorical EJ policy too – and another that establishes a Council on Economic Advisors that elevates the role of economics and undermines DEP’s role in climate, energy and water resource infrastructure policy, there are several really bad Executive Orders by Governor Christie that remain in place, including Executive Order #2 (“regulatory relief”; cost benefit analysis, and federal consistency policies) and Executive Order #3 (slash “job killing red tape”).

III)  Don’t Forget Appointment Powers – MIA at the Highlands and Pinelands

Finally, there has been no action by Gov. Murphy to deal with Gov. Christie’s horrible appointments at the Highlands Council and Pinelands Commission, including removal and replacement of Executive Directors Wittenberg and Nordstrom.

Like I said: What the hell is going on?