Governing Green Power
Electric Vehicle Greenhouse Gas Emission Assessment for Hawaii
This study estimates greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of electric vehicles (EVs) compared to that of other popular and similar cars in Hawaii, by county over an assumption of 150,000 miles driven. The GHG benefits of EVs depend critically on the electricity system from which they derive their power. The analysis shows that EVs statewide are […]
Read MoreWhat a Difference a Rate Makes
By Michael Roberts UHERO’s Energy Planning and Policy Group has been writing about how variable pricing of electricity, both wholesale and retail, can lower the cost of intermittent renewables. Get the rates right, and facilitate easy open-access to the grid for both buyers and sellers, and amazing things can happen. The idea is that variable […]
Read MoreIncentives for the Utility
By Michael Roberts *This post follows up on two previous installments in the Sustainable Energy Blog Series: Embrace Policy Experiments for Demand Response and Four Years to Improve Renewable Energy. Perhaps the greatest obstacle to a renewable-energy future is that our utility, Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI), has little or no incentive to transform its operation into a […]
Read MoreEmbrace Policy Experiments for Demand Response
By Michael Roberts *This post follows up on the previous post in the Sustainable Energy Blog Series: Four Years to Improve Renewable Energy. HECO has recently proposed new time-of-use rates and is developing pricing for various kinds of demand response programs. The proposed programs are a long ways from the open-access, marginal-cost pricing, but they […]
Read MoreFour Years to Improve Renewable Energy
By Michael Roberts Without the debt-ceiling hijinks of earlier years, the federal budget bill passed at the end of last year with a lot less drama and press coverage. But little news turned out to be good news, at least for Hawai`i and renewable energy interests. The spending bill included an extension of the 30% […]
Read MoreMaking an Optimal Plan for 100% Renewable Power in Hawaii
The State of Hawaii has adopted the unprecedented goal of building a 100 percent renewable power system by 2045. This report identifies some of the central challenges in achieving this goal and uses the SWITCH power system planning model to identify solutions to these challenges. A 100% renewable power system must balance electricity supply and […]
Read MoreA Status Update on Federal GHG Emissions Reduction Policy for Hawaii
By Paul Bernstein, Makena Coffman and Sherilyn Wee In early August, President Obama announced and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) released the final details for the Clean Power Plan (CPP). These rules are designed to lower levels of carbon pollution from existing U.S. power plants – aiming to curb U.S. electric sector emissions by […]
Read MoreResearch Driven Energy Policy
By Carl Bonham, Makena Coffman, and Michael Roberts Hawaii is in the midst of transforming its electricity system into one with a lot more renewable energy. It’s an exciting time, but also a challenging one that is forcing the State to make tough decisions amid many uncertainties. There appears to be confusion about who bears […]
Read MoreDoes PV Add Home Value?
By Sherilyn Wee Hawaii leads the nation with the highest per capita installation of solar photovoltaic (PV). High electricity rates—three times the national average, —a generous state tax credit, plummeting PV costs, and net energy metering (NEM) policy have all contributed to the proliferation of PV. Considering future cost savings, PV is an attractive investment, yielding […]
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