Paul Bernstein
Economic Impact of the Natural Energy Laboratory Hawaii Authority Tenants on the State of Hawaii in 2022
NELHA contracted the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO) to estimate its economic impact on the State of Hawaii. Specifically, this research determined NELHA’s contribution to local business sales, employee earnings, tax revenues, and number of jobs in Hawaii from the expenditures of its tenants in 2022. To estimate expenditures made by NELHA tenants […]
Read MoreA Comparison of State-Level Carbon Reduction Strategies: A Case Study of Hawai‘i
Abstract: State-level electricity standards are proliferating and becoming more ambitious, with numerous US states adopting a Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) and a small but increasing number of states participating in carbon pricing programs. The State of Hawai‘i has an ambitious RPS that requires 100% electricity generation through renewable sources by 2045. This study uses a […]
Read MoreEconomic and GHG impacts of a US state-level carbon tax: the case of Hawai’i
A new paper by a team from UHERO published in Climate Policy finds that a carbon tax for Hawai‘i set at the federal social cost of carbon would reduce cumulative GHG emissions by 10% relative to the baseline from 2025 to 2045. They find that when carbon tax revenues are paid as equal-share dividends to Hawai‘i […]
Read MoreAre We Hitting Our Targets? A Look at Hawai‘i’s GHG Emissions
By Makena Coffman, Maja Schjervheim, and Paul Bernstein Over the past three years, the State of Hawai‘i Department of Health has released a Hawai‘i Greenhouse Gas Emissions Report. This year’s report added an inventory for 2017, as well as projections through 2030 based on existing policies and trends. UHERO collaborated with ICF on this project and […]
Read MoreIntegrating Renewable Energy with Time Varying Pricing
With increasing adoption of intermittent sources of renewable energy, effective integration is paramount to fully realizing societal benefits. This study asks the question, how valuable is residential real-time pricing (RTP) in comparison to time-of-use (TOU) rates to absorb increasing sources of intermittent renewable energy? We couple a detailed power sector model with a residential electricity […]
Read MoreEstimating the Opportunity for Load-Shifting in Hawaii: An Analysis of Proposed Residential Time-of-Use Rates
Hawaii’s largest electric utility, Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) and its subsidiaries recently proposed a Time of Use (TOU) pricing scheme for residential rates. The TOU scheme has three tiers of prices: daytime, on-peak, and nighttime. The proposed rates have the highest cost during the on-peak period from 5pm to 10pm. For Oahu, the lowest cost […]
Read MoreElectric 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 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 MoreElectric Vehicle Lifecycle Cost Assessment for Hawaii
This study develops a model to estimate the total cost of ownership of electric vehicles (EVs) in comparison to similar internal combustion engine (ICEVs) and hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs). The model includes issues related to purchase/finance, insurance, maintenance, resale value, future fuel prices and access to solar photovoltaic (PV). It also estimates the impact of […]
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