Don’t They Like the Sun in Hawaii?

If there’s any state in the Union that could call itself a natural candidate for solar power, it might have to be Hawaii.  The Aloha State has the most expensive rates of fossil fuel-powered electricity in the country (over 26 cents/kilowatt-hour,  compared to an average for the nation of under 11 cents/kilowatt-hour).  The state relies on imported fossil fuels for more than 96% of its energy, yet has abundant supplies of renewable power sources: wind, waves and - most of all - sun.  Grid parity for solar in Hawaii - that point in time at which it is no more expensive to use solar power than conventional power to generate electricity - has well and truly passed there.

It’s a state where you might expect the electric utility to be encouraging residential and commercial customers to install solar power. It would reduce the state’s total fuel bill and, even better, obviate the need for the utility to build more fossil-based power plants. You might also expect the utility to get into the clean energy game itself with central station solar or utility-scale wind installations.

Of course, you might also be very frustrated in your expectations.

The Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) is attempting to block homes and businesses from installing rooftop solar panels and connecting them to the grid in every island except Oahu. The state has had a net metering regime in place for nine years, but what aroused HECO’s ire was the proposal that a feed-in tariff - in which customers become power producers and are paid a premium rate for their output be adopted.

HECO’s first volley was to propose to the State Public Utilities Commission (PUC) a complete ban on any new grid-connected solar power, on the grounds that too much intermittent distributed generation could destabilize the grid. In theory this could happen, but probably not until distributed generation accounts for some 10% of the grid total, twice its current total. After a backlash of public opinion, the utility revised its proposal by setting a limit on net-metered power of 3%, having earlier agreed on a 4% cap.

According to Isaac Moriwake of Earthjustice, this would just have the effect of wrecking the local solar industry by the end of this year, rather than immediately.

HECO has also proposed establishing a working group to study the issue and make recommendations by the end of next year. As those of us who’ve spent time around professional obfuscators know, ’studying’ an issue - especially one that has been addressed and answered thoroughly in other parts of the world - can be a cost-effective way of delaying or defeating it.

The PUC is considering the HECO proposal, and is due to rule on it on April 8. The term ’slam-dunk’ comes to mind, since no possible harm could come from allowing installations to continue while the working group does its work, but upsets are as common in politics as they are in sports.

You can find out more about the HECO case on Earthjustice’s blog here: http://unearthed.earthjustice.org/blog/2010-march/solar-energy-foes-try-block-sun

If you’re in Hawaii, you can take action to urge the PUC to reject HECO’s proposal by visiting here:  http://capwiz.com/re-action/go/HECO

If renewable energy development can be suppressed in a location like Hawaii for tendentious reasons that serve to obstruct the public good, the battle will need to be fought not just there but everywhere in the country.