Rhode Island Energy has asked the state Public Utilities Commission to approve a $280.3 million energy efficiency budget for 2027 through 2029, in what its filing calls the company's first binding three-year plan. Electric programs would get $184.9 million and gas programs $95.4 million, according to the Oct. 1 filing in Docket 26-37-EE.

The yearly budgets are $95.4 million for 2027, $94.4 million for 2028 and $90.5 million for 2029. The 2026 annual plan now in effect is $95.6 million. By our arithmetic, the 2029 budget is 5.3 percent below 2026. The gas budget falls from $33.0 million in 2026 to $29.1 million in 2029, while the electric budget moves from $62.6 million to $61.4 million.

The company projects $788.8 million in lifetime benefits over the three years, with net lifetime electric savings of 1,701,551 megawatt-hours and net lifetime gas savings of 6,423,723 MMBtu. Electric savings start higher than in 2026 (582,845 MWh in 2027 against 493,014 MWh) and ease to 554,196 MWh in 2029. Gas savings run the other way: 2,316,732 MMBtu in 2027, then 1,918,919 MMBtu in 2029, below the 2,049,886 MMBtu listed for 2026.

What it would mean for bills

The company's cover letter says a typical residential customer using 500 kilowatt-hours a month would see a monthly bill decrease of $1.03, or 0.6 percent. A typical gas heating customer using 845 therms a year would see an annual decrease of $10.39, or 0.5 percent. The letter says those figures include a performance incentive opportunity for the company of $15.83 million for electric and $1.03 million for gas over the three years.

The plan says its binding budgets and savings goals come with routine reporting and a process for mid-term modifications, which would let the company, the Energy Efficiency and Resource Management Council, the commission and the Division of Public Utilities and Carriers respond to material changes without a full plan filing.

Council review

The Energy Efficiency and Resource Management Council voted on Sept. 24 to endorse the plan, the company's letter says. In an Oct. 22 cost-effectiveness report to the commission, the council's consultant team found the plan cost-effective. For 2027 through 2029, it reports benefit-cost ratios of 2.66 for electric and 1.90 for gas on the Rhode Island Test, and 2.03 and 1.73 on the intrastate version of that test. The report says the company declined to quantify economic development benefits that were incremental to other categories, so they are not in those ratios.

The council is also asking the commission to approve its own $2.7 million budget for 2027 through 2029, according to the testimony of council Vice Chair Peter Gill Case. He describes it as a 0.9 percent increase over holding the 2026 budget flat for three years.

Schedule

Under the commission's second amended procedural schedule, dated Oct. 27, testimony from intervenors and the Division was due Nov. 10, and the company's reply testimony is due Nov. 17. A public comment hearing is set for 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 15 in Hearing Room A, followed by an evidentiary hearing that continues Dec. 16. The docket page listed no Division testimony when it was read on Nov. 11. The council and the Rhode Island Office of Energy Resources are listed as intervenors.