ERC okays confidentiality on PEMC-Siemens contract

by Myrna Velasco April 17, 2016
http://www.mb.com.ph/erc-okays-confidentiality-on-pemc-siemens-contract/

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) has approved the request of Philippine Electricity Market Corporation (PEMC) for “confidential treatment” of its contract with German firm Siemens AG relative to the ongoing project for the Wholesale Electricity Spot Market’s (WESM) new market management system (NMMS).

In granting the request, ERC took note of PEMC’s scale of data and information that may be compromised, if documents are made public.

The NMMS of the spot market primarily supports the trading platform for electricity. As such, it entails voluminous data and information vital to the efficient functioning of a market as well as the power system.

In a protective order issued by the ERC, it stipulated that it “grants the motion for confidential information filed by the PEMC for non-disclosure or confidential treatment of information.”

It further directs the Commission’s technical and legal staff to adhere to the directive and observe all the necessary protocols in securing the confidentiality of information contained in the PEMC-Siemens NMMS contract.

The ERC emphasized that its staff shall “maintain the confidentiality of information/data until the Commission directs otherwise.”

The regulatory body similarly assured that the document shall be set “separate and kept apart from the case record for the said duration.”

In its filing, PEMC reckoned that the NMMS “was custom-designed by Siemens for PEMC and is intended for continuous use in the operations of the WESM, access thereto by competitors may result in irreparable prejudice to both Siemens as owner of the intellectual property and to PEMC as the user of the software/program.”

The operator of the electricity spot market added “the NMMS contains trade secrets that constitute proprietary rights which must be kept confidential.”

Weighing on such justifications, the ERC ruled that it shall “accord confidential treatment on the contract for the supply of software development and quality services as prayed for.”

The NMMS intends to upgrade and modernize the trading systems of the power spot market and will also integrate the current market developments, such as the must-dispatch protocol for renewable energy capacities and the expansion of trading participants with mandatory retail competition and open access.