Section 285.111  Information to be Provided to the Chief Clerk

a)         Notwithstanding any other provisions of this Part, a utility providing information to Commission Staff pursuant to this Part, except for information provided under subsection (b), shall also provide one copy of that information to the Chief Clerk in a format that complies with 83 Ill. Adm. Code 200.

b)         A utility providing information to the Chief Clerk under this Section may designate portions of that information as information for which it intends to seek a protective order. This designated information shall be separated from the remainder of the information provided to the Chief Clerk.

c)         Subject to subsections (c)(3) and (4), the Chief Clerk shall not provide any information designated for a protective order to parties in the rate case without utility permission, provided the utility requests a protective order for that information under 83 Ill. Adm. Code 200.430 by no later than the first status hearing in the rate case.

1)         Any party shall have 21 days after the date of the request for a protective order to respond to the request, and the utility shall have ten days after the deadline date for filing responses to file its reply.

2)         If the utility's tariffs are not suspended, the designated information shall not be released to any individual or entity by the Chief Clerk without the utility's permission.

3)         The Staff of the Commission is entitled to review the designated information at any time.

4)         Pursuant to 15 ILCS 205/6.5(d), the Illinois Attorney General has a statutory right to review the designated information.

d)         Information provided to the Chief Clerk under this Section for which the utility has requested a protective order shall be treated by the Chief Clerk as directed in the protective order or other order or decision issued in response to the utility's request for a protective order.

e)         The utility need not provide information to the Chief Clerk pursuant to this Section that is protected from disclosure by Illinois Supreme Court Rule 201(b)(2). However, in any case where a utility withholds information otherwise required to be provided by this Section, it shall provide the Chief Clerk a description of the information and a description of the basis for the assertion of the privilege claim.

f)         Information provided to the Chief Clerk under this Section, for which a utility has indicated it will request a protective order, but for which no protective order is in fact requested by the utility, shall be released by the Chief Clerk to the parties to the rate case as if the utility had not indicated it would seek a protective order. However, any individual or entity other than a party to the rate case may gain access to that information only through a petition to the Commission in which the utility shall be named as the respondent.

g)         Nothing in this Section shall be construed to prevent utilities and parties from entering into non-disclosure agreements in lieu of, or in addition to, the protective order process described in subsections (b) through (d).

(Source:  Amended at 38 Ill. Reg. 7598, effective March 20, 2014)