ORDER NO. 99-380

ENTERED JUN 09 1999

This is an electronic copy. Appendices and footnotes may not appear.

OF OREGON

UM 926

DISPOSITION: MOTION FOR ADDITIONAL PROTECTION GRANTED

On May 25, 1999, Portland General Electric Company (PGE) and PacifiCorp (the companies) jointly filed a Motion for a Standard Protective Order and for Additional Protection under Paragraph 16 of the Standard Protective Order. The Standard Protective Order was issued on May 28, 1999.

In requesting additional protection, the companies state:

On March 5, 1999, the Commission issued Order No. 99-189 in this docket requiring the companies (i) to begin contract negotiations with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) for federal power benefits for the companies’ residential and small farm customers, and (ii) to provide monthly reports to the Commission on the status of the negotiations. In addition, the Commission opened "an investigation on whether it is prudent for [the companies] to purchase, and to what amount and term, subscription power from BPA on behalf of the utilities’ qualifying customers."

Each company desires to provide the Commission and Commission Staff with all the information it needs, but some of the material relevant to the reports and the investigation is confidential and proprietary, requiring issuance of a protective order.

Paragraph 16 of the standard protective order provides, "A person desiring additional protection may move for any of the remedies set forth in ORCP 36(C)." Paragraph 16 requires a motion for additional protection to state the parties involved, the nature of the information involved, the exact nature of the relief requested, and the specific reasons the relief is necessary.

ORCP 36(C), entitled "Court Order Limiting Extent of Disclosure," provides in pertinent part:

For good cause shown, the court . . . may make any order which justice requires to protect a party or person . . . including one or more of the following: . . . (5) that discovery may be conducted with no one present except persons designated by the court; . . . (7) that a trade secret or other confidential research, development, or commercial information not be disclosed or be disclosed only in a designated way . . . .

The parties involved in this issue are Commission Staff, PGE, and PacifiCorp. The information for which each company seeks additional protection is any information relating to contract negotiation positions, potential contract terms, background proprietary information about either of the companies, and similar information relevant to the negotiations of contracts that the companies may enter into with BPA. The relief the companies seek is an order permitting the companies to disclose this information to the Commission and its Staff only. The relief is necessary in this case because of the extremely sensitive nature of the information and the risk to the companies that their contracting positions will be compromised by dissemination of this information to BPA and its other customers.

More specifically, the Commission has ordered the companies to file monthly reports updating the Commission on the progress of their negotiations with BPA. The reports filed thus far have been general in nature because of the preliminary status of the negotiations. As time passes, however, and negotiations become more focused, the requested information will become more sensitive.

The only parties to this docket are the companies and Staff. Staff has informed the companies that it has no objections to issuance of the proposed order. Therefore, the companies request that the Commission issue the requested order as expeditiously as possible.

Disposition: The companies’ concern about harm from disclosure of commercially sensitive information is persuasive. Staff does not oppose the motion. The motion should be granted.

ORDER

IT IS ORDERED that the request for modification of the standard protective order filed by PGE and PacifiCorp is granted.

Made, entered, and effective ________________________.

A party may request rehearing or reconsideration of this order pursuant to ORS 756.561. A request for rehearing or reconsideration must be filed with the Commission within 60 days of the date of service of this order. The request must comply with the requirements in OAR 860-014-0095. A copy of any such request must also be served on each party to the proceeding as provided by OAR 860-013-0070(2). A party may appeal this order to a court pursuant to applicable law.