Utilities to challenge rule on cheaper #electricity in Supreme Court
Utility companies are confident they can successfully block the Supreme Court from siding with consumers, states and environmentalists who want to protect a landmark federal rule that pays consumers for reducing their electricity use when the grid is stressed, lowering electricity costs.
The demand-side management and compensation program was instituted a few years ago by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to create a way of managing the electric grid without building new, and sometimes, expensive power plants.
The result of the program, known as Order 745, would be to reduce electricity costs passed on to homeowners. Environmentalists argue that the rule would help states comply with the Environmental Protection Agency’s climate regulations for existing power plants.
