Client: Conservation Law Foundation (CLF)
Author: Joshua R. Castigliego and Elizabeth A Stanton, PhD
August 2026
On behalf of Conservation Law Foundation, Senior Researcher Joshua R. Castigliego and Principal Economist Dr. Elizabeth A. Stanton prepared a white paper that provides an analytical framework for evaluating heat pump rate design using the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission’s (RI PUC) Rhode Island Benefit Cost Test (RI Test). The framework establishes methodological guidance to support regulators, utilities, and stakeholders in consistently applying the RI Test, including recommended analytical practices, data sources, and assumptions that facilitate transparent, comparable, reproducible, and auditable benefit-cost analyses.
The analytical framework described in this paper builds upon AEC’s prior application of the RI Test, as documented in its April 2026 Rhode Island Heat Pump Rate “RI Test” Report and accompanying testimony in RI PUC Docket No. 25-45-GE, to evaluate a proposed heat pump rate design.