Comply or be cut off.
Being cut off is always an option.
It is not really a viable option, of course. The utility has the whip hand, and they intend to apply the whip until they get what they want.
You never answered do you think that the utility customer should be able to dictate the terms? In case you said yes, in essence that is what Public Service Commissions do. They set the terms for both the utility and the consumer. In spite of your dismissal of public service commissions as agents of the utility, they're not.