SEATTLE — An electric utility is asking a Washington state judge to permanently block the public release of some economic information about its coal-burning units.
The Sierra Club says the public should have clear information about the financial risks of operating coal-burning power plants. It filed a public-records request seeking information that PacifiCorp had blacked out in a coal analysis it provided to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission.
PacifiCorp says that limited information is confidential and releasing it will put it at a competitive disadvantage. It released the redacted information to those who signed non-disclosure agreements.
In July, PacifiCorp won a temporary restraining order to prevent the release of that information.
A Thurston County Superior Court judge is scheduled Friday to hear whether to make that injunction permanent.
