The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority adopted a broad set of program and rate decisions during its Dec. 17 remote meeting, approving annual reviews for solar, storage and EV programs, selecting a cohort of innovative pilot projects for deployment, and adopting revenue requirements and a utility budget.

Key actions included the Authority's selection of six pilot projects in the Innovative Energy Solutions (IES) program cycle 3. Tim White (Authority staff) said the administrator recommended six projects for deployment and the interim decision concludes phase 2 of the IES cycle. Chair Tom Wheel told the panel he had submitted correspondence and recused himself from the IES docket; the roll call shows the IES interim decision passed with four votes in favor and one abstention.

The panel also approved multiple annual program review decisions recommended by staff:
- Residential Renewable Energy Solutions (RES) program year 5: the decision set a 2026 buy-all tariff rate of 32.89¢ per kilowatt-hour and a non-bypassable charge of 4.02¢ per kilowatt-hour, maintained existing adders, authorized a contractor compliance working group, and directed utilities to make add-on netting systems available by the start of 2026.
- Nonresidential Renewable Energy Solutions (NRES) program year 5: price caps for project categories were increased for 2026 and an annual budgetary cap was established to constrain total program costs.
- Shared Clean Energy Facility (SCF) program year 7: staff recommended increasing the price cap to $182.94 per megawatt-hour, retaining prior bid preferences, and removing slope-based site restrictions in appendix B to reduce duplication with DEEP reviews.
- Energy Storage Solutions (ESS) program year 5: the decision phases out the passive-dispatch and upfront incentive model for new participants beginning April 1, 2026, replacing it with a smaller enrollment incentive and a performance-based structure, establishes a $350 nonrefundable application fee for commercial applicants, allows certain non-export batteries (pre-2026 interconnection) to participate, and forms a temporary working group to study bidirectional EV inclusion.
- EV charging program year 5: staff recommended changes to upfront and managed-charging incentives and directed electric distribution companies to form a working group on small multi-unit dwellings and other program expansions.

On revenue requirements, Diane Stover (staff) presented GenCon Energy's 2026 fixed revenue requirement; the company revised its request to $43,932,190 and staff recommended approval. Josiah Wada later presented GB2 New Haven's 2026 filing; the decision record transcribes the approved annual revenue requirement as $16,000,007.03 with additional true-up recovery amounts noted in the record.

The Authority also approved a 2026 operating budget for Call Before You Dig, Inc. (CBYD): staff reported a proposed calendar-year budget of $2,828,925 and a monthly mileage rate increase from $4.35 to $4.45 per mile per month; the Authority found the proposed budget equitable and reasonable and adopted the recommendation.

Votes and recusals: many items were adopted by roll call. Chair Tom Wheel repeatedly advised the panel of prior participation in some dockets and abstained from votes where he had recused himself; for the IES selection and the NRES/SCF/ESS/EV program reviews the recorded votes show four yes votes and one abstention when the chair abstained.

The panel concluded by approving routine consent-calendar items and designating presiding officers for late additions in part c and d of the agenda. The Authority adjourned and will reconvene Jan. 7, 2026.