Senate bill offers lifeline for FERC's demand-response effort

摘要

Democratic Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico offered legislation yesterday aimed at saving a federal demand-response program left in disarray by a federal appeals court decision. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee member introduced S. 2947, which would authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to ensure demand response -- the practice in which consumers voluntarily reduce their power consumption -- is compensated on equal footing with power generation. The bill would reverse a U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit's 2-1 ruling in September that vacated Order 745, a FERC rule that required grid operators to pay customers and demand-response providers the market value of unused electricity.