Public Utilities Commission of Colorado Grants Extraordinary Protection of Highly Confidential Information

The Public Utilities Commission of Colorado has issued an interim decision granting two motions filed by Public Service Company of Colorado (Public Service) seeking extraordinary protection of highly confidential information. The decision, dated March 16, 2022, grants Public Service's motions under Rule 1101 of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure, limiting access to certain categories of information to only a reasonable number of attorneys and subject matter experts representing a party to the proceeding.

Key Takeaways:

• Public Service Company of Colorado (Public Service) filed two motions for extraordinary protection of highly confidential information, seeking to limit access to certain categories of information to only a reasonable number of attorneys and subject matter experts.
• The motions were granted by the Public Utilities Commission of Colorado, with access to the protected information limited to the Commissioners, Commission Trial Staff, and the Colorado Office of the Utility Consumer Advocate.
• The protected information includes eight categories of competitive and commercially-sensitive resource planning information, as well as customer information protected by Rule 3033(b) of the Commission's Rules Regulating Electric Utilities.
• The Commission found that the requested protections were reasonable and consistent with the Commission's rules and past practice.
• Public Service also prepared non-disclosure agreements for attorneys and subject matter experts, as required by Rule 1101(b)(V) of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure.

Statistics:

• Eight categories of competitive and commercially-sensitive resource planning information are protected, including unit level delivered fuel costs, hourly market price data, and unit level heat rate curves.
• Public Service received a discovery request (COSSA/SEIA 1-10(a)) that sought data used to create Table JWI-D-8 in Public Service witness Jack Ihle's Direct Testimony, which would have resulted in the production of individual customer data at levels of granularity prohibited by Rule 3033(b).
• The Commission found that disclosure of the information in the eight categories of highly confidential information would cause irreparable harm to Public Service's trading operations, ability to solicit cost-effective resources, and ultimately, its customers.

Sources:

• Before the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Colorado Decision No. C22-0168-I, PROCEEDING NO. 21A-0625EG
• Code of Colorado Regulations (CCR) 723-1 and 723-3
• Rule 1101(b)(V) of the Commission's Rules of Practice and Procedure
• Public Utilities Commission of Colorado website