Toddi Nakagawa, who lives in a suburb of Honolulu, has spent years battling her family's high electricity bills, which once topped $500 a month, by gradually buying more solar panels. After accumulating more than 70 panels and three stacks of batteries, she has gotten her family's monthly bill down to $26.
Ms. Nakagawa is not the only one. More than a third of Hawaii's single- family houses have rooftop solar panels, more than twice the percentage in California, and officials expect many more homes to add panels and batteries in the coming years.
Before energy prices went up this year, homeowners, elected leaders and energy executives in Hawaii decided that rooftop solar panels were the best way to tame the state's high power costs. The state's embrace of renewable energy has been strengthened by Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Electricity rates in Hawaii went up 34 percent in April from a year earlier because of the power plants burning oil from Russia.
While Hawaii faces unique challenges, the state's reliance on solar carries lessons for other states and countries looking to fight climate change and bring down energy costs. The state has increased the use of renewable energy by getting electric utilities to accept rooftop solar rather than fighting it, as energy companies in California, Florida and other states have been doing.
Shelee Kimura, president and chief executive of Hawaiian Electric, said that rooftop solar is going to be an important part of the grid in Hawaii. Some people think we are pretty amazing.
Less than a decade ago, utilities like Ms. Kimura pressed state lawmakers to reduce incentives for rooftop solar, a tactic that the utility industry has used across the country, arguing that rooftop solar is not as efficient as large solar and wind farms. In 2015, Hawaii's utility regulators reduced how much homeowners were paid for sending excess energy to the electric grid.
The change slowed the growth of rooftop solar, but it didn't bring down energy costs. The state's electricity rates are three times the national average.
In recent years, state officials have encouraged the use of small-scale energy systems. To manage the supply and demand of electricity, Hawaii offers up to $4,250 to homeowners on Oahu, home to about 70% of the state's population and Honolulu, to install home batteries with their solar systems. The batteries can be tapped for power between 6 and 8:30 pm when energy demand is usually high.
It is a good example of a policy pivot with utilities and regulators saying that they need to change how they approach this.
Unlike most of the country, Hawaii burns a lot of oil to generate electricity because the fuel is cheaper to ship than natural gas.
Marco Mangelsdorf is a lecturer at the University of California, Santa.
According to the Energy Information Administration, power plants fueled by oil supplied nearly two-thirds of Hawaii's electricity last year, down from three-quarters a decade earlier. The earliest year for which the agency has that data is the one in which rooftop solar supplied 14 percent.
Russia, Libya, and Argentina are the countries that the state imported most of its oil from. Alaska received 20 percent of the total.
The chairman of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission said dependence on oil is the wrong path. He said that it hurts the environment and is expensive.
Hawaii was forced to use other suppliers after the United States banned Russian oil imports. Electricity rates in the state have increased more than in the rest of the country because of the price of oil.
Hawaii has had to contend with energy inflation before. Tensions in the Middle East caused the price of oil to jump in 2008. The state collaborated with the federal Department of Energy to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels. Hawaii enacted a law requiring all of its electricity to come from renewable sources by 2045.
Richard Ha is the chairman of the board of sustainable energy Hawaii, a nonprofit organization that was instrumental in pushing the state to embrace renewable energy.
Hawaii's leaders disagreed about how to do away with fossil fuels. Large wind and solar farms were wanted by utilities and lawmakers.
The rooftop solar was not adequate. Small-scale energy systems reduce the need for larger power plants and transmission lines, which poses a threat to energy companies. The nation's investor-owned utilities make their money by earning a roughly 10% return on every dollar they invest in the grid.
Many big renewable energy projects were delayed because of supply chain problems. The only major coal power plant in the state is expected to close soon. Home power systems were used more by regulators and utilities.
The big projects were being pushed out.
Proponents of rooftop solar and home batteries note that Hawaii does not have a lot of cheap, open land needed for large solar and wind farms, a position that Hawaiian Electric, which locals call HECO, came to embrace.
Scott Glenn, the state's chief energy officer, said that the rooftop solar industry fought tooth and nail to get to where they are today.
Many residents decided that they could not wait for elected officials to bring down energy prices.
The electric grid on Oahu is mostly powered by oil-fired power plants. After the family bought its first set of solar panels, their electric bill went up.
Ms. Nakagawa said that they try to conserve and that sometimes it got so hot that she and her family had to use a fan.
When they built a rental unit, they added more solar panels. Their home has five immediate family members, an uncle and tenants. Most of the $74,000 the Nakagawas spent on their energy system was returned through state and federal tax credits.
A year ago, regulators in Hawaii created a performance-based system that rewards utility companies for quickly connecting rooftop solar and battery systems to the grid. Promoting energy efficiency can help utilities earn more money. That has made the relationship between utilities and consumers more friendly.
Ms. Kimura of Hawaiian Electric said that they had to change the relationship. These things have changed more quickly than any other time in history.
Hawaii is trying to take advantage of its natural resources.
There is a lot of potential for hydroelectric plants on the Big Island. It is possible for utilities in some places to produce geothermal energy.
Some of the resources can be dangerous. The remnants of the eruption of the Kilauea volcano, which raised the ground 60 feet, surround a geothermal energy plant that has yet to return to full capacity. There are fissures in the ground. Some homes that survived the destruction depend on rooftop solar panels.
Other islands use different forms of renewable energy. Local business people bought the utility 20 years ago.
70% of Kauai's electricity comes from carbon-free sources. It expects to build a solar farm, batteries, and a hydroelectric facility in the next ten years, which will increase that to 90 percent.
David Bissell is the chief executive of the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative.
New York and California have set ambitious renewable energy targets but are still dependent on fossil fuels. The United States gets about 40 percent of its electricity from natural gas and 20 percent from coal.
Mary Powell, a former president of Green Mountain Power, said about Hawaii.
Ms. Powell was on the board of Hawaiian Electric's parent company before becoming the chief executive of Sunrun. She said moving to renewable energy would cost a lot of money, but it would help reduce energy price spikes associated with oil, natural gas and coal.
Fossil fuels and fossil fuel prices will rip their way through the U.S. economy, according to Ms. Powell. The solution is what Hawaii is doing.
All Rights Reserved © 2024
