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Derrick Talerico (SBN 223763)

dtalerico@ztlegal.com 

David B. Zolkin (SBN 155410)

dzolkin@ztlegal.com

ZOLKIN TALERICO LLP

12121 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1120 

Los Angeles, CA 90025 

Tel: (424) 500-8551

Fax: (424) 500-8951

Attorneys for Western Electricity 

Coordinating Council

UNITED STATES BANKRUPTCY COURT

NORTHERN DISTRICT OF CALIFORNIA

SAN FRANCISCO DIVISION

In re:

PG&E CORPORATION

-andPACIFIC GAS AND ELECTRIC 

COMPANY,

Debtors.

Bankruptcy Case No. 19-30088 (DM)

Chapter 11

(Lead Case) (Jointly Administered)

MOTION OF WESTERN ELECTRICITY 

COORDINATING COUNCIL TO FILE 

PROOFS OF CLAIM AND ANY 

AMENDMENTS THERETO UNDER SEAL

[No Hearing Requested]

Affects PG&E Corporation

Affects Pacific Gas and Electric Company

Affects both Debtors

* All papers shall be filed in the Lead 

Case, No. 19-30088 (DM)

Case: 19-30088 Doc# 4187 Filed: 10/10/19 Entered: 10/10/19 18:40:18 Page 1 of

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Western Electricity Coordinating Council (“WECC”) hereby moves (the “Motion”) for 

entry of an order authorizing WECC to file under seal the proofs of claim, and any amendments 

thereto, that it will file in the bankruptcy case (the “Case”) of Pacific Gas and Electric Company 

(the “Debtor”). The Motion is further accompanied by the declaration of Heather M. Laws. A 

proposed form of order granting the relief requested herein is annexed hereto as Exhibit A. In 

support of the Motion, WECC respectfully represents as follows:

JURISDICTION AND VENUE

This Court has jurisdiction over the Motion pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 157 and 1334, the 

Order Referring Bankruptcy Cases and Proceedings to Bankruptcy Judges, General Order 24 

(N.D. Cal.), and Bankruptcy Local Rule 5011-1(a). This is a core proceeding pursuant to 28 

U.S.C. § 157(b). Venue is proper before this Court pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §§ 1408 and 1409.

BACKGROUND

WECC is a not-for-profit corporation responsible for mitigating risks to the reliability and 

security of critical portions of the electrical power grid for the geographic area known as the 

Western Interconnection, which is a 1.8 million square mile area that spans from western Canada 

to northern Baja California, Mexico. Geographically, WECC is the largest and most diverse of the 

six regional entities that have delegated authority from the North American Electric Reliability 

Corporation (“NERC”) and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) to monitor and 

enforce mandatory reliability standards for the Bulk Electric System and to serve as the Regional 

Entity within the United States portion of the Western Interconnection.

WECC’s claims in the Case pertain to its role serving as the Regional Entity with 

jurisdiction over the Debtor’s operations. WECC is authorized by the delegation of authority from 

NERC and FERC to issue notices of alleged violations to the Debtor and proposed penalties 

resulting from those violations. In some instances, the violations are self-reported by the Debtor 

to WECC, and in other instances WECC has discovered violations through its own independent 

investigation and audit of the Debtor’s operations. Violations identified by WECC cannot be 

Case: 19-30088 Doc# 4187 Filed: 10/10/19 Entered: 10/10/19 18:40:18 Page 2 of

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made public, because if the violations were made public, then a “bad actor” could potentially 

discover by reviewing WECC’s proof of claim weaknesses in the Debtor’s physical security 

measures protecting critical energy infrastructure, or flaws in the Debtor’s cybersecurity 

procedures. It is thus critical both for the protection of the public and to ensure the reliable 

transmission of energy to consumers that WECC’s proof of claim be filed under seal.

In WECC’s role as the Regional Entity for the Western United States, it is subject to 

FERC’s jurisdiction, and must comply with applicable Electric Reliability Organization (ERO)

rules. 18 C.F.R. § 39.2. The NERC Rules of Procedure (the “RoP”) are ERO rules as defined in 

18 C.F.R. § 39.1. Section 1500 of the RoP contains the following applicable definitions:

1. Confidential Information means (i) Confidential Business and Market 

Information; (ii) Critical Energy Infrastructure Information; (iii) personnel 

information that identifies or could be used to identify a specific individual, or 

reveals personnel, financial, medical, or other personal information; (iv) work 

papers, including any records produced for or created in the course of an evaluation 

or audit; (v) investigative files, including any records produced for or created in the 

course of an investigation; or (vi) Cyber Security Incident Information; provided, 

that public information developed or acquired by an entity shall be excluded from 

this definition. 

2. Confidential Business and Market Information means any information that 

pertains to the interests of any entity, that was developed or acquired by that entity, 

and that is proprietary or competitively sensitive. 

3. Critical Energy Infrastructure Information means specific engineering, 

vulnerability, or detailed design information about proposed or existing Critical 

Infrastructure that (i) relates details about the production, generation, 

transportation, transmission, or distribution of energy; (ii) could be useful to a 

person in planning an attack on Critical Infrastructure; and (iii) does not simply 

give the location of the Critical Infrastructure. 

4. Critical Infrastructure means existing and proposed systems and assets, whether 

physical or virtual, the incapacity or destruction of which would negatively affect 

security, economic security, public health or safety, or any combination of those 

matters. 

5. Cyber Security Incident Information means any information related to, 

describing, or which could be used to plan or cause a Cyber Security Incident.

Case: 19-30088 Doc# 4187 Filed: 10/10/19 Entered: 10/10/19 18:40:18 Page 3 of

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Moreover, Section 1502 of the RoP subjects WECC to the following requirements with 

respect to Confidential Information:

1502. Protection of Confidential Information 

1. Identification of Confidential Information — An owner, operator, or user of the 

Bulk Power System and any other party (the “Submitting Entity”) shall mark as 

confidential any information that it submits to NERC or a Regional Entity (the 

“Receiving Entity”) that it reasonably believes contains Confidential Information 

as defined by these Rules of Procedure, indicating the category or categories 

defined in Section 1501 in which the information falls. If the information is 

subject to a prohibition on public disclosure in the Commission-approved rules of 

a regional transmission organization or independent system operator or a similar 

prohibition in applicable federal, state, or provincial laws, the Submitting Entity 

shall so indicate and provide supporting references and details. 

2. Confidentiality — Except as provided herein, a Receiving Entity shall keep in 

confidence and not copy, disclose, or distribute any Confidential Information any 

part thereof without the permission of the Submitting Entity, except as otherwise 

legally required. 

3. Information no longer Confidential – If a Submitting Entity concludes that 

information for which it had sought confidential treatment no longer qualifies for 

that treatment, the Submitting Entity shall promptly so notify NERC or the 

relevant Regional Entity.

BASIS FOR RELIEF REQUESTED

The Court “may issue any order, process, or judgment that is necessary or appropriate to 

carry out the provisions of this title.” 11 U.S.C. § 105(a). The Bankruptcy Rules set forth the 

requirements to obtain a protective order to file documents under seal. “On motion, or on its own 

initiative, with or without notice, the court may make any order which justice requires ... (3) to 

protect governmental matters that are made confidential by statute or regulation.” Fed. R. Bankr. 

P. 9018. In addition, Civil Local Rule 79-5(e) for the United States District Court for the Northern 

District of California permits a party to file under seal documents designated as confidential 

subject to a protective order. The request for seal must be narrowly tailored to sealable materials. 

Civil Local Rule 79-5(d).

The proofs of claim that WECC intends to file in this Case contain Confidential 

Information, Critical Energy Infrastructure Information, and Cyber Security Incident Information

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(all as defined in the RoP). As a result, WECC has an obligation under Section 1502 of the RoP to 

protect that information, and WECC submits that constitutes “cause” to file its proofs of claim 

under seal in this Case. Moreover, even the amounts of the claims that WECC intends to file are 

themselves potentially Confidential Information, Critical Energy Infrastructure Information, and 

Cyber Security Incident Information. The reason for that is that violations asserted by WECC are 

public information, including the nature of violations asserted and penalty amounts, but the 

identity of the entity that committed the violation is not made public in order to protect 

Confidential Information, Critical Energy Infrastructure Information, and Cyber Security Incident

Information. If the claim amounts submitted by WECC were made public, they potentially could 

be used to identify specific violations committed by the Debtor, which would thus reveal 

Confidential Information, Critical Energy Infrastructure Information, and Cyber Security Incident 

Information.

Accordingly, WECC respectfully requests the Court’s permission to file its proofs of claim 

against the Debtor, and any amendments thereto, under seal. WECC will provide complete and 

unredacted copies of its proofs of claim (and any amendments thereto) to the Debtor 

contemporaneously with their filing. Finally, WECC understands that the Debtor does not object 

to the relief requested by this Motion.

DATED: October 10, 2019 ZOLKIN TALERICO LLP

By: /s/ Derrick Talerico

Derrick Talerico

David B. Zolkin

Attorneys for Western Electricity Coordinating 

Council

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