Order

              STATE OF ILLINOIS
ILLINOIS COMMERCE COMMISSION
BlueStar Energy Services, Inc. d/b/a BlueStar Energy Solutions
Petition for Confidential Treatment of BlueStar Energy Services, Inc. d/b/a BlueStar Energy Solutions 2011 Annual Kilowatt-Hour Report.
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12-0148
ORDER
By the Commission:
On February 29, 2012, BlueStar Energy Services, Inc. d/b/a BlueStar Energy Solutions (“Petitioner”) filed with the Illinois Commerce Commission (“Commission”) a verified petition requesting an order protecting from disclosure for not less than two years confidential and proprietary information contained in a report required by Commission rules. Specifically, Section 451.770 of 83 Ill. Adm. Code 451, “Certification of Alternative Retail Electric Suppliers,” (“Part 451”) requires alternative retail electric suppliers (“ARES”) to report by March 1 of each year the total annual kilowatt-hours ("kWh") delivered and sold to retail customers within each incumbent electric utility service territory and the total annual kWh delivered and sold to retail customers in all incumbent electric utility service territories combined in the preceding calendar year. Petitioner is an ARES and as such must submit such an Annual kWh Report. The Commission received Petitioner’s Annual kWh Report for 2011 on March 1, 2012. Petitioner provided both a properly redacted public version and an unredacted confidential version. Petitioner notes in its petition that Section 451.60 of Part 451 provides for confidential treatment of certain information. Petitioner states further in the petition that the Freedom of Information Act ("FOIA"), 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq., protects trade secrets.
Petitioner sells services to customers in competition with many other ARES. Petitioner contends that the information contained in its 2011 Annual kWh Report is market sensitive and that public disclosure of such would be unfairly detrimental to it. If the redacted information is made publicly available, Petitioner fears that competitors could use the information to unfairly gain insight into Petitioner's market share and strategy. Petitioner would not share such information with a competitor and such information is not publicly available.
The Commission finds that Petitioner has provided the minimum support necessary for it to conclude that the information redacted from the public version of Petitioner's 2011 Annual kWh Report is market sensitive. Disclosure of such within a few years of issuance is apt to cause Petitioner unfair competitive harm. The Commission also finds that the requested two years of confidential treatment is consistent with past Commission practice. The Commission considers this period