The Federal Communications Commission recently granted a petition for declaratory ruling regarding “demand response” communications under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act.
APPA supported the petition filed by Edison Electric Institute in joint comments with the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) and the American Gas Association (AGA).
Specifically, the order declares that “demand response” communications, such as calls and texts, are considered “closely related” to the utility’s service because they respond in real time to grid conditions and are designed to prevent outages and save customers money during peak loads.
The ruling states that when consumers give their phone number to a utility, “they give their prior express consent to receive non-telemarketing demand response calls and texts.”
In the ruling, the FCC said that specific examples outlined in APPA’s joint comments with NRECA and AGA were essential to the agency’s understanding of demand response and a utility’s role in ensuring reliability by managing grid loads.
