The article is rather one-sided but this isn't actually as silly as it sounds. Utility company expenses don't go down to zero if people stop using electricity because power plants and electrical grids cost a lot of money just by existing. It's also possible that these efficiency improvements don't actually decrease peak loads much in which case utility companies might not even be able to shut down power plants. I think it's common for utility companies to add a constant fee just for being hooked up to the grid to cover such costs (for example, that's what California is doing) and because these companies are so heavily regulated, they need government permission to do that.