It is interesting to note Governor Ige is an electrical engineer. He was born and raised in Hawaii. One of 6 siblings growing up in Pearl City. He is the true definition of Hawaiian local. I sense from the video is his completely sold on DG integration. That said, I think he has the best intentions for the long term energy success of Hawaii in mind. He also has all the best information, including the R&D studies by NREL and Solarcity happening as I write this. He's knows the grid can handle a lot more DG then the utitlities had previously believed possible. Also, NREL just revealed DG assets are not the same as adding fossil fuel power generating assets, they have completely different characteristics and effects when interconnected to the grid. That means the assumptions/risks associated with effects caused by increases fossil fuel capacity are not the same as adding DG capcity. As such Governor ige is learning first had that traditional Utitlity assumptions about DG do not hold water anymore and must be scraped for new ones. Those new assumptions radically change utitlity rate design as well as future capital expensive requests during rate cases.
again, Solarcity is right there next to governor ige showing him this information. Florida based Nextera is not. Suffice it to say, Solarcity is winning over the governor and that is why we hear Lyndon Rive saying Hawaii is the postcard of the future to the rest of the country. If Solarcity can help develop massive solar(&storage) installs while proving safe, reliable and economic for all residents of Hawaii, there can no longer be a disbute around pro DG policy being fantastic policy nationwide (and in perpetuity).
News article just came out showing gdp rising to record levels in CA while greenhouse gas emissions have flattened out in CA. This is a clear indication the exponential DG growth (and utitliy solar among EE) has not hurt he economy. It has proven to be the opposite. And this is only mounting more evidence in Solarcity's favor for unlocking that infinite market down the road.
Gov. Ige could become one of the most important leaders for the energy transformation. I'm so glad he's got an EE background and is able to think in a total systems way. I think it's taking real courage and leadership to oppose LNG interests.
I do think there are big economic benefits that DG can unleash in Hawaii. Consider how much cash flows out of the Hawaiian economy just to import fuel. Rooftop solar is cheaper. So the solar owner has more discretionary income to spend in the state economy. Also most of the cost of solar is local installation, sales, and other soft costs within the state economy. What actually gets imported is a small component. So this creates more net jobs in the local economy. Next, distributed solar preserves the natural beauty of the state which, in addition to being a positive value for residents, supports tourism. When Hawaii is able to say that it is 100% renewable, this will also be a positive message for tourism. It really is the paradise state. Ige seems pretty concerned about the coats of environmental regulation. Not only is this a burden to industries in the state, a burden passed on tonresidents, but even a burden to the government agencies that must process all the permits and due diligence at a cost to Hawaiian taxpayers. All these layers of regulatory cost are a drag on the state economy. By contrast, the regulatory burdens both public and private, of distributed generation may be far lighter. For example, environmental impact studies and public hearing are required for utility scale installation, but not residential. So this whole transition can be deployed at lower systemwide regulatory cost. Finally, Ige wants Hawaii to be a Research and Development state for renewables. This is not just about solving local problems and showcasing to the world. It is about creating a high tech industry, attracting talent and cultivating businesses that meet compete in global markets. If Hawaii can figure out how to power its islands with 100% renewable, then it will have a lot of export opportunities to take solutions across the planet. So putting all these things together, if Hawaii succeeds in this transformation, its economy will grow and become much more dynamic.
Here's one way Hawaii could pursue going 100% renewable. Allow different companies to collaborate and compete to transform suubstations to 100% renewable energy. A few substaions would be testbeds. A company like SolarCity could be given a special opportunity to take the lead in a couple of test beds. Essentially, the testbed, a substation would work toward becoming a self-sufficient microgrid. It would need to generate, distribute and balance load for all power within the microgrid. There may be opportunities to export and import power with the grid, but this would need to be done in a way that is compatible with the goal of a 100% renewable network of microgrids. So for example, if two renewable microgrids trade power, say one has some wind power and the other some geothermal power, then that sort of trading is entirely compatible with the 100% renwable goal. So these different test beds can try out different approaches and they can trade with each other. Once a few testbeds get to say 98% renwable levels, it should also become clear how to move whole grids to full renewability. Some testbeds will deploy more quickly, other test beds may achieve lower costs, and some may have better reliability than others. But in all that testing, best practices should emerge. Companies that are abke to deliver the best results will win more opportunities to replicate those results. Losers will be weeded out. HECO can be one of the participants, but they will have to innovate at the same levels as SolarCity and others if they want to retain their vertically integrated franchise. Citizens within each substation can vote on whether or not they want their substation to be a test bed. The most willing communities are enrolled in the program first.
