The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority has selected AmpUp’s Adapt & Earn managed charging program for statewide deployment this week, the only project chosen to scale among four pilots completed in Cycle 1 of the state’s Innovative Energy Solutions Program. PURA’s July 1, 2026, decision in Docket No. 22-08-07 invites AmpUp and Connecticut’s electric utilities to jointly propose a statewide design for Adapt & Earn, which lets public and shared EV chargers participate in demand-response incentives without added hardware or driver enrollment. The program addresses a gap that has long excluded public charging from grid programs: where property owners and vehicle operators differ, as at workplaces, multifamily buildings, train stations, and fleet depots, chargers typically have no direct utility relationship to draw on for incentives.
Highlights
- Pilot scale: An 18-month pilot with Eversource Energy enrolled roughly 1,000 charging ports across about 200 locations spanning eight commercial customer segments.
- Grid relief during a heatwave: Adapt & Earn shifted charging off-peak when wholesale electricity prices spiked more than 3,600% during a regional heatwave, at roughly a third the cost of the peak supply it displaced.
- Driver participation: 91% of participating drivers reported zero inconvenience from charge pauses, 87% called opting in or out simple, and 83% said they would participate again; multifamily housing sites saw the strongest response, at a 33% participation rate.
- Full site host buy-in: 100% of site hosts enrolled with zero opt-outs, and 42% of new installation funding went to environmental justice communities.
How Adapt & Earn Works
Managed charging programs have traditionally applied only to private garages tied to a single utility bill, according to the company. Adapt & Earn instead delivers incentives directly through AmpUp’s platform: participants allow short charging pauses during peak demand periods in exchange for immediate wallet credits in the AmpUp app. The company says this design eliminates the need for vehicle telematics, advance enrollment, or additional hardware — barriers that had kept public and shared charging sites out of similar programs.
David Jackson, COO of AmpUp, framed the pilot as proof that drivers will participate under the right conditions. “Historically, managed charging has been confined to private garages and individual utility bills. We demonstrated its viability at public charging stations, where drivers have no direct relationship with the utility, proving that drivers will participate if the process is seamless and the compensation is efficient,” Jackson said. “Our selection as the sole Cycle 1 pilot to scale reflects the dedication of our team, our collaboration with Eversource and PURA, and the Connecticut drivers who demonstrated that EVs are the most flexible load ever plugged into the grid. The IES program proved what’s possible; now we scale it.”
Pilot Results With Eversource Energy
According to PURA’s decision and the program’s independent evaluation, the 18-month pilot enrolled roughly 1,000 charging ports across about 200 locations spanning eight commercial customer segments. During a regional heatwave, wholesale electricity prices spiked more than 3,600%; Adapt & Earn shifted enrolled charging off-peak at roughly a third the cost of the peak supply it displaced. Every enrolled site host stayed in the program through its full run, with zero opt-outs, and 42% of new installation funding was directed to environmental justice communities.
PURA Vice Chairman David Arconti Jr. credited the results with validating the state’s broader approach to grid innovation. “The IES Program was designed to find innovations that deliver real, measurable benefits to Connecticut ratepayers, and AmpUp’s project did exactly that,” Arconti said. “By demonstrating that public EV charging can serve as a flexible grid resource at a fraction of the cost of traditional peaking resources, this project charts a path toward a more affordable, reliable grid as EV adoption grows.”
What Comes Next for Statewide Scaling
PURA’s decision directs AmpUp and Connecticut’s utilities to jointly develop a proposal for extending managed charging to public and shared chargers statewide. The results build on findings AmpUp reported in September 2025, when the pilot delivered grid relief three times more efficiently than a standard peaker plant, according to the company.
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