Washington, DC (July 1, 2014)–The Advanced Energy Management Alliance (AEMA) today issued a statement in support of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) decision to request a rehearing en banc of the U.S. Court of Appeals decision of May 23 (USCA Case #11-1486) that vacated FERC Order 745 – a landmark order that recognized the value of demand response resources in wholesale energy markets.
“As we had anticipated, the FERC has affirmed its jurisdiction that demand response should be available as a wholesale energy resource,” states Katherine Hamilton, executive director of AEMA. “We fully support a rehearing of the Court’s decision on this landmark rule and are pleased that the FERC proposes to defend its important role in facilitating demand response in support of maintaining competitive energy markets to the benefit of all consumers.”
In addition to FERC, other parties with standing in the case, including PJM Interconnection, the grid operator for thirteen states in the Mid-Atlantic, and the state of Maryland, have publicly stated they will be requesting rehearing by the court.
Demand response benefits consumers; is a proven resource that enables more efficient and cleaner operation of electricity markets; and provides cost savings to everyone who uses electricity. In the ruling, the court acknowledged that demand response benefits consumers by lowering wholesale costs and increasing system reliability. Many consumers rely on the value of demand response at the wholesale level to reduce energy costs and retain the cost-effectiveness of their industries, businesses, and home energy management systems.
AEMA will continue advocating for consumers to have the ability to participate in demand response programs throughout the nation by educating system operators and federal and state policymakers.
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About AEMA:
The Advanced Energy Management Alliance (AEMA) is an association of providers and supporters of demand response united to overcome barriers to nationwide use of demand response for an environmentally preferable and more reliable grid. AEMA advocates policies that empower and compensate customers to manage their energy usage and make the electric grid more efficient, more reliable, more environmentally friendly, and less expensive. Members of AEMA include: Alcoa, Century Aluminum, Comverge, EnerNOC, First Fuel, IPKeys, Johnson Controls, Landis+Gyr, MelRok, Opower, and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. ELCON, the trade association for large industrial consumers, is also a member of AEMA.
See story on PRWeb here.