A Pennsylvania Commonwealth appeals court judge on Wednesday ruled that PPL can keep secret certain information about an October 2011 snow storm power outage that left more than 1,000 people in the dark.

Judge Bonnie Brigance Leadbetter overturned a decision by the state Office of Open Records, ruling that the Public Utility Commission is entitled to withhold information under the Public Utility Code and the Right-to-Know law."I think the most disappointing thing about opinion is that gives the PUC carte blanche to decide which documents to release and which to withhold," said Harrisburg attorney Craig J. Staudenmaier, who filed the Right-to-Know request on behalf of a coalition of 12 news outlets, including the Times News."The ramifications are the most disappointing part," he said. "It's a blow to any access."The coalition has 30 days to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court."This is a sad day, not only for news outlets, but for all PPL customers," said Times News editor Marta Gouger."We had so many residents in the Times News area who were without power for days. They lost food. They spent unbudgeted money trying to stay warm. They might have been the ones who were affected by this shift in staffing and they have a right to know that," she said.PUC spokeswoman Jennifer Kocher issued a prepared statement."We are pleased that the Commonwealth Court has upheld the commission's efforts to protect information that could identify anonymous sources. With this decision by the court, utility employees can continue to feel comfortable coming to the PUC with information. These employees play an important role in the PUC's mission of protecting the public interest," she said.1,400 customers delayedThe Right-to-Know request was filed to force the PUC and PPL to release details of why crews were diverted from a high-priority area to a low-priority area during an Oct. 29, 2011, snowstorm, delaying restoration of power to 1,400 PPL customers.The PUC found PPL in the wrong for the diversion, revealed by an anonymous letter, and fined the utility. PPL settled with the PUC for $60,000.As part of the civil settlement agreement with the PUC over the diversion, PPL would not disclose details of where the crew was sent.The details include the locations of both areas, where the crews were sent, who sent them, and who benefitted.Leadbetter wrote in her ruling that because the anonymous letter and the documents it generated weren't the focus of the settlement, the PUC didn't have to make them public.Further, she wrote, releasing the person's name "could lead to public utilities and employees being less likely to cooperate and provide relevant information out of fear of retaliation or public embarrassment, frustrating the purpose of PUC's investigations and lessening the effectiveness of the PUC in monitoring the utilities compliance with statutory and regulatory requirements."PPL spokesman Paul Wirth told the Times News on Feb. 4 the diversion was the "result of a misunderstanding that led a lower level supervisor to make a wrong assignment for one repair crew."Anonymous letterDespite PUC's own statute requiring public disclosure, the commission refused requests filed under the state's Right To Know Law by The Morning Call and the Times Leader to release details.The PUC said it refused the requests because making the documents public would mean identifying the PPL employee who wrote the anonymous letter alerting PPL to the diversion.Identifying the employee might lead to "economic retaliation" or damage that person's reputation, the PUC said.The newspapers argued that they wanted information about the diversion, not about who wrote the anonymous letter.The OOR said the letter must be given to the papers because it is deemed a public document under the PUC's own statutes.The PUC could redact information that would identify the letter writer, OOR said.The news companies appealed PUC's refusal to the state Office of Open records, which ruled in the papers' favor.The ruling stated that the anonymous letter must be released because it's a public document under PUC's own statutes.The PUC appealed the order to Commonwealth Court, arguing that its reasons for not releasing the letter should remain private. PPL later joined the appeal.The Right-to-Know request was filed by Staudenmaier on behalf of the coalition, which is composed of the Times News; the Pocono Record; WNEP-TV; The Morning Call; Civitas Media, publisher of the Times Leader; PA Media Group: PennLive/ The Patriot News; the Philadelphia Media Network; The Associated Press; Lancaster Newspapers; Calkins Media; the Scranton Times; and the Reading Eagle.