Supreme Court to hear FERC Order 745 case over demand response rulesMonday, May 4, 2015 Dive Brief:
Dive Insight:The decision by the Supreme Court sets up a showdown between traditional generators and demand response advocates. The DC Circuit Court's May 2014 ruling has left the demand response industry and wholesale energy markets in a world of uncertainty. Despite the Supreme Court's decision to take the case, the markets can expect little certainty until the court rules on the case itself. The case centers around the issue of whether demand response is a wholesale or retail market issue. The case applies to demand response providers in wholesale energy markets, where major power users are compensated for reducing their energy usage under FERC Order 745. Traditional generators represented by the Electric Power Supply Association, the trade group for competitive generators, argue that demand response is solely an issue for retail markets because retail users are being asked to reduce their retail consumption. FERC, the Obama administration, and demand response advocates such as EnerNOC argue the regulation extends only to the wholesale energy market, which is directly within the scope of FERC's authority. The court is expected to take up the case during the nine-month period starting in October 2015. Recommended ReadingBloomberg: FERC Gets U.S. High Court Hearing on Energy-Conservation Rule |