Orpheus Hanley, et ux. v. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission

This case arises from a direct conflict between state Public Utility Commission mandates and federal and state statutes that condition the installation of advanced metering infrastructure (smart meters) on an affirmative customer request. Despite statutory language requiring customer initiation, the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has imposed mandatory installation without consent, eliminating customer choice and overriding federal protections. The resulting inconsistency among state interpretations threatens national uniformity in energy policy, consumer protections, and constitutional liberties. The questions presented are: I. Whether the Supremacy Clause and federal preemption principles are violated when a state utility commission mandates the installation of an advanced metering device without an affirmative customer request, in conflict with federal statutes—including the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), the Energy Policy Act of 2005 (EPAct)—and with state statues such as the Pennsylvania Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act (Act 138 of 1996, amended by Act 129 of 2008) (“Customer Choice Act”) that require customer initiation. II. Whether compelling installation of smart meters without customer consent or request, and replacing statutory “customer choice” requirements with “opt-out” or “opt-in” schemes, violates constitutional protections under the Fourth, Fifth, Ninth, and Fourteenth Amendments by presuming consent, denying refusal rights, authorizing physical intrusions and privacy-invasive data collection, and depriving consumers of meaningful process or judicial review. HL Whether the lack of uniformity in state regulatory interpretations and enforcement of federal metering statutes undermines national consistency in energy policy and consumer protections, warranting Supreme Court intervention to resolve conflicting decisions and restore uniform federal standards.