Delaware DNREC Secretary John Hughes is either a thief or a fool (OK, maybe he is both a thief and a fool), on so many levels. You really have to throw away logic and reason to bastardize the meaning of "market-based" in this fashion. It's like the idiotic term, "managed competition" that the Hillarycare enthusiasts used to bandy about. In this case, the governments set an arbitrary cap, and then coerces energy producers to bid against each other for this artifically-scarce "resource". There is no legitimate benefit to either the people of the states or to the energy producers. Rather, it is a con game a la three-card monte - the foolish citizens end up paying more (and more, and even more) for their energy and for anything and everything that uses energy in its production. But the state governments get millions of dollars in their pockets. A classic case of government of, by, and for the government. So, it is just another government swindle...
Never assume these are mutually exclusive options when we are talking about politicians -- thief AND fool would be more likely.