COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

6 Months Ended

Jun. 30, 2011

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES [Abstract]

COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

5.      COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

On March 20, 2007, the Paul Bergeron Trust ("Bergeron") commenced a derivative action on behalf of the Trust, in Suffolk County Superior Court, Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Bergeron joined the Trust and affiliated entities, including the Managing Shareholder and a person who is an officer of the Managing Shareholder, alleging that the allocation of the proceeds from the sale of certain assets of the Trust and affiliated entities was unfair, and sought an injunction prohibiting the distribution to shareholders of such proceeds. The Superior Court denied the request by Bergeron for an injunction. On February 29, 2008, an amended complaint was filed adding two additional investors, one in the Trust and one in The Ridgewood Power Growth Fund ("Growth Fund"), as derivative plaintiffs. On October 6, 2010, the Superior Court allowed the plaintiffs to file a second amended complaint adding a claim that the defendants breached fiduciary duties to the Trust and Growth Fund by forming affiliated funds to finance the expansion of underlying projects in which each of the Trust and Growth Fund had an interest rather than using alternative financing, which allegedly resulted in a misallocation of sale proceeds. As previously reported, Bergeron is no longer a party to this derivative action; however the other plaintiffs continue to pursue this matter. Discovery recently ended. A pre-trial conference is scheduled for September 2, 2011 and trial set to begin on November 29, 2011.

In May 2010, the Managing Shareholder formed a Special Litigation Committee comprised of two members independent of the Managing Shareholder, the Trust and Growth Fund. The purpose of the committee, as stated in its charter, is to perform an independent evaluation of the derivative action and make all decisions on behalf of the Trust and Growth Fund relative to the derivative action. The Special Litigation Committee has retained legal counsel and has reviewed documents and interviewed witnesses related to the litigation. On October 29, 2010, the Special Litigation Committee issued its report finding that, in the committee's opinion, there is not sufficient evidence to support the plaintiffs' allegations and the chance of the plaintiffs succeeding on the merits of the complaint to be extremely poor. The Special Litigation Committee concluded that the Trust and Growth Fund should move to have the complaint dismissed and the litigation ended. Counsel to the Special Litigation Committee filed a motion to dismiss. The plaintiffs challenged the motion to dismiss, oral arguments were heard in July 2011, and the judge denied the motion to dismiss in early August 2011. The defendants anticipate that the court's ruling will be appealed.  The costs of the Special Litigation Committee are being borne by the Trust and Growth Fund.