It shouldn’t be up to Oregon to help out investors who thought they’d make money on the state’s energy tax credit program. Yet that’s what would happen if lawmakers caved in and bailed out the ailing program.

Oregon’s Department of Energy lost so much money on its Business Energy Tax Credit program that the Legislature shut it down. Meanwhile, the department is being sued by some of the state’s largest utilities, among others.

And all that’s just for starters.

The department’s latest problems go back once again to the BETC program, which, though officially dead, is still doing some business. Those who hold the remaining credits issued by the program cannot sell them at what the state says they’re worth, so the department gave at least some credit holders the right to sell them at far less.

Then it tried to hide its actions with an after-the-fact rewrite of the rules, a move it says the Justice Department approved. Neither department will release that letter of approval, arguing attorney-client privilege gets in the way. The Energy Department, as the client, could do so if it wished.

Now, with yet another 150 old credits to sell, the department worries there is no market at the current price set by the Legislature, and Gov. Kate Brown wants lawmakers to step in and allow steeply discounted sales. Both the Justice and Energy departments fear the state will be sued by disgruntled investors unless the change is made.

There are so many issues here. For one, it’s hard to understand why Brown doesn’t insist on more transparency from the Energy Department about its secret memo. What is the government hiding? Why does she let a disgraced agency with a discredited program get away with such nonsense?

Then there’s the issue of the price of the credits of the discredited program of the disgraced agency. Oregonians shouldn’t be forced to pay more to clean up this mess. Don’t bail out investors.