A Tale of Two Cases: Shifting Sands of Federal and State Jurisdiction over Electricity

In a recent decision revisiting the separate spheres of state and federal jurisdiction over electricity, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit adopted a narrow statutory interpretation of federal authority that ignores the broad view of the wholesale electricity market as a single enterprise cutting across state boundaries. If correct, what effect will precluding a federal role in demand response have on the wholesale electricity markets and the prices consumers pay? Further, can the apparently shifting sands of federal and state jurisdiction over electricity be reconciled, or has the D.C. Circuit identified another regulatory gap that may only be resolved by the intervention of Congress?