The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority convened a scheduling conference for Docket 24-12-01, the reconsideration petition filed by Yankee Gas Services Company (doing business as Eversource Energy), to discuss timelines, the scope of review and procedural steps leading up to the authority's final decision.

Vincent Pace, counsel for Yankee Gas, said the company filed seven issues for reconsideration — two described as computational errors and five as legal or rate-making principle concerns — and asked the authority to allow prehearing statements and to issue a draft decision with the opportunity for written exceptions. "We will not file an appeal if the company receives a result in this case that's consistent with relevant law and provides a just and reasonable result," Pace said.

Pace emphasized that Yankee does not seek to introduce new evidence in the reconsideration: "We're not seeking to introduce new evidence," he said, adding that any testimony elicited in a hearing would technically be new evidence only to the extent parties answer questions on the record. He described prehearing statements as concise summaries of the existing record that would focus the issues and narrow the scope of questioning at any hearing.

Other parties and commissioners pressed for clarity on scope and notice. Andrew Maticowski of the Office of Consumer Counsel asked whether prehearing statements would include new prefiled expert testimony; Yankee's counsel said they would not include new prefiled testimony and that parties would need sufficient notice if the authority planned to expand its review beyond the seven issues raised by Yankee. Counsel also asked that hearing dates avoid conflicts; Maticowski noted a proposed Jan. 19 date would fall on Martin Luther King Jr. Day and asked for spacing from related hearings scheduled earlier in January.

Thomas Lopez of the Office of Education Outreach and Enforcement told the panel he will be on military orders and largely unavailable from Jan. 1 until about Jan. 17, and asked the authority to account for limited staff availability in early January.

Pace said Yankee envisions producing a panel of in‑house witnesses — including, he said, "Ms. Peruta and Mr. O'Brien" — to answer questions on the record about the seven issues and the computational items in particular; parties said those witnesses should be made available for cross-examination if needed and that notice is important if experts must travel.

Commissioners and counsel discussed whether adjustments to the seven issues could have downstream effects on other calculations in the rate decision; parties urged that any expansion of scope be accompanied by sufficient notice so they can prepare responses or make experts available. The vice chair said the authority will take the party proposals under advisement and will publish a revised docket schedule. The authority stated its plan to issue a final decision on or before 2026-03-13 (the transcript notes a statutory deadline of 2026-03-15).

The conference was adjourned with a commitment to publish a revised schedule and procedural guidelines, including response times for motions and rules for settlement proposals.