Connecticut utility regulators have chosen a managed charging platform built by AmpUp to advance toward statewide deployment after an 18-month pilot showed it could shift electric vehicle charging away from the grid’s most expensive hours.
The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority selected the company’s Adapt & Earn program as the only one of four pilots tested under the state’s Innovative Energy Solutions Program to advance toward full deployment.
What the pilot tested
The Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) has selected AmpUp to develop a managed EV charging program in collaboration with the state’s electric utilities. The agency evaluated four pilots in Cycle 1 of the state’s Innovative Energy Solutions (IES) Program, and selected AmpUp’s Adapt & Earn managed charging project for deployment at scale. The selection stems from PURA’s July 1, 2026, decision in Docket No. 22-08-07 .
The 18-month pilot, conducted with Eversource Energy, enrolled more than 1,000 charging ports at 200 locations representing 8 commercial customer segments.
Unlike most managed charging programs, which rely on a driver’s direct account with a home utility, this project targeted shared and public charging sites.
Adapt & Earn is designed for charging sites where drivers do not have a direct utility relationship with the property owner or charging equipment. This includes workplaces, multifamily buildings, train stations, fleets, and campuses.
That is a segment of the EV charging load that most residential time-of-use rates and smart-charger incentives do not reach.
A heatwave stress test
The program’s results during a regional heatwave stand out. During a regional heatwave, the program shifted charging away from peak periods when wholesale electricity prices increased by more than 3,600%. The displaced charging load was managed at roughly one-third of the cost of the peak electricity supply it replaced.
AmpUp delivers incentives through its platform without requiring vehicle telematics, advance enrollment or additional hardware. Participants receive wallet credits in the AmpUp app in exchange for allowing brief charging pauses during peak demand periods.
Independent evaluation found that 91% of participating drivers reported zero inconvenience during charge pauses, 87% said opting in or out was simple and intuitive, and 83% would participate again .
Scaling up statewide
Regulators have now directed the company and the state’s electric utilities to design a broader rollout. PURA has invited AmpUp and Connecticut’s electric utilities to jointly propose a statewide program design, creating a pathway to expand managed charging at public and shared EV chargers across the state.
PURA Vice Chairman David Arconti Jr. said the program delivered on the goals of the pilot initiative.
“The IES Program was designed to find innovations that deliver real, measurable benefits to Connecticut ratepayers, and AmpUp’s project did exactly that,” said PURA Vice Chairman David Arconti, Jr. “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.”
AmpUp Chief Operating Officer David Jackson framed the shift as a structural change for how managed charging has historically worked.
“Historically, managed charging has been confined to private garages and individual utility bills,” said David Jackson, COO of AmpUp. “The IES program proved what’s possible. Now we scale it.”
Why it matters for grid planners
Connecticut’s approach addresses a gap that has drawn attention elsewhere, including efforts like a Washington state trial that pushed 95 percent of electric vehicle charging into off peak hours automatically, replacing flat rate incentives with software that times every plug in itself.
Shared and workplace chargers represent a fast-growing but harder-to-manage slice of overall EV load, since no single utility account controls when the plug is in use.
If the statewide design moves forward, Connecticut would join a small group of states experimenting with software-driven load shifting at shared charging sites rather than relying solely on flat incentive payments or individual smart chargers.
Regulators say that shift could blunt future strain on local grids as EV adoption continues.
