 I am your host, Raya Salter. I'm a clean energy attorney, clean energy advocate, and community outreach specialist. I'm also the principal attorney of Imagine Power LLC. Now, Hawaii's facing cutting-edge energy challenges. While our policies are helping to lead the way, similar issues with regard to rooftop solar, energy efficiency, and other topics are playing out here and throughout the nation and the world. Today, we're going to take a look at important energy and utility news from Hawaii, around the country, and the world as reported in the news over this past week. So first, as reported by CBS News on January 19th, Hawaii is considering a new 100% renewable energy goal for transportation. Now, Hawaii already has the most aggressive renewable energy targets in the nation, aiming for its utilities to get 100% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2045. Now, advocates want to extend that goal to the transportation sector to urge all forms of ground transportation to fuel up using renewable sources by 2045. But Hawaii officials aren't planning to make everyone get rid of their fuel-powered cars, at least not yet. Nobody wants to step in and force people to get rid of cars they may love now, said State Representative Chris Lee, chairman of the Energy and Environment Committee. Now, this goal represents a steep climb for the auto industry in a state when there are about 5,000 electric vehicles out of an estimated 1 million cars on the road. Unlike Hawaii's groundbreaking 100% renewable goal for electricity, where utilities in the state will be fined if they don't comply by deadline, the proposed transportation goal isn't a mandate. With 1 million cars on the road, hundreds of auto dealerships and multiple counties with fleets of vehicles, it's unclear how the state could enforce a renewable fuels mandate, advocates said. This is an extremely important issue for Hawaii. Do we need to get to 100% renewable energy for transportation? Yes. Is this easy? Well, no, it's not for several reasons. One, as we know, for air transportation, air planes, it's an important part of new research, but right now, planes are heavily reliant on traditional fuel. Can we change the way that we fuel up on the ground? Absolutely, yes. There are electric vehicles available and folks love electric vehicles here, but there's a pressing need to move forward on the electric vehicle infrastructure in Hawaii. In addition, I think a lot of people are really struggling to stay in the current cars they have now and stay up to safety standards, and there's also a real preference here, especially for folks who work in the construction industry or other building industries to have a large truck or large families to have a big vehicle. So I think that it'll be important that a new transportation goal is couched in a way that doesn't seem out of touch and seems that it is something that can be practical and bring benefits to drivers in Hawaii. So let's see what happens as that goes forward. More news in Hawaii. Now, as reported on Hawaii News Now on January 17th, Hawaii now has a new consumer advocate. Dean Nishina has been named Executive Director of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Division of Consumer Advocacy, effective January 1. He's been serving as Acting Executive Director since September, following the departure of Jeffrey Ono, who returned to private practice. Now, as the consumer advocate, Nishina will oversee the division's representation of consumer interests before the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission and other local and federal agencies. Nishina previously served in the role from December 2009 to January 2011. Now, I think this is good things. Dean Nishina is an experienced and passionate consumer advocate, and I think that we can expect that this appointment is only going to strengthen the office of the consumer advocate for the energy consumers of Hawaii. Next, as reported by Dwayne Shimogawa of Pacific Business Use on January 20th, Hawaii's struggling $150 million Clean Energy Loan Program named a new chief. The Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority has named Gwen Yamamoto-Lau as its new Executive Director, the state agency regulating the use of a controversial $150 million Clean Energy Loan Program, according to the agency on Friday. Yamamoto-Lau, whose appointment became effective Friday, joined the authority last year as its managing director. She has more than three decades of executive experience in commercial and credit union banking, as well as community development financing. Now, the Green Infrastructure Loan Program, which is also known as Green Energy Market Securitization, or GEMS, aims to address financing barriers to increase the installation of renewable energy projects in order to meet the state's clean energy goals. The struggling $150 million Clean Energy Loan Program has launched several years ago, and it has only doled out about 3.5 million as of the end of 2016, although there may be some positive steps taken in 2017. The program, which has suffered from several challenges, including going head-to-head against conventional local lenders, has seen some renewed interest, with 109 million in the pipeline to be loaned for project in such areas as consumer efficiency, commercial efficiency, non-profit renewable, small business renewable, and community solar. So this is a great development, I think, that we've got leadership, the permanent leadership at the helm. Let's see what happens with the GEMS program. It's absolutely critical that this huge $150 million program actually get pointed towards doing some good. I know I would personally love to see that power some community solar projects for low and moderate-income ratepayers, really with the focus of providing clean power, environmental benefit, and a reduced cost for people who are paying very high bills. More news, next we're going to Maui. Now, as reported yesterday by Lea Mehta of the Maui News, a new EPA report shows that power plants are responsible for most of Maui County's toxic air. Three Maui facilities spewed nearly 190,000 pounds of toxic chemicals into the air in 2015, with the two Maui Electric Company power plants logging the largest releases in Maui County, the EPA reported. The EPA's annual toxic release inventory national analysis was released on January 12 for the Pacific Southwest. It showed that a total of 188,500 pounds of chemicals were released into the air in Maui County, most of which was sulfuric acid from the Mico, Kahului, and Maalea power plants. The Kahului power plant released 100,000 pounds, mostly sulfuric acid, in 2015. Now that's down from 130,000 pounds in 2014. There was a small release of polycyclic aromatic compounds, a possible carcinogen as well. The Maalea power plant released 87,000 pounds, up from 79,000 pounds in 2014. Now there are also small releases of benzoparoline, lead compounds, naphthalene, and polycyclic aromatic compounds, all suspected carcinogens. So this is really just to really emphasize that there are serious consequences that we pay for Hawaii's reliance on fossil fuels to burn for oil. Maui, one of the world's most beautiful places and home to many, is being poisoned by burning of fossil fuels according to the EPA. So it's important to keep track of that. We know where the toxicity is coming from. We know where there's success and failure and increasing and decreasing that toxicity. So I think it's something important to keep our eyes on. Also reported by Maui News yesterday, utilities there have, and this could be a potential solution, made a request regarding renewable energy. So Maui Electric Company and Hawaii Electric Light Company on the Big Island have asked the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission to start the process to seek new renewable energy generation on Maui, Lanai, Molokai, and Hawaii Islands, the utility said last week. Now, this request would target projects that can be in service by the end of 2020. Following established regulatory rules, the two utilities, subsidiaries of Hawaiian Electric Company, are asking the PUC to open dockets to facilitate issuing formal requests for proposals for new renewable energy projects and to appoint an independent observer to oversee the procurement process. So this is an interesting and excellent development. We want to see more renewable energy development and we want to make sure that there is a fair and equitable process that allows for developers to have the opportunity to execute those projects. So we will see what happens and hopefully it can provide some relief. Renewable energy can provide some relief from the toxicity spewed by the burning of fossil fuels. So now we will leave Hawaii and let's talk a bit about some news that's happening in other parts of the country. So utility dives Robert Walton reported this morning that Massachusetts lawmakers have floated an aggressive bill mandating 100% renewables for Massachusetts by 2035. Now, three Democratic lawmakers in Massachusetts have proposed this bill and it would require that the state use 100% renewable energy by 2035 but then goes further to eliminate fossil fuels from heating and the transport sectors as well. The proposal calls for phasing out the use of fossil fuels in Massachusetts entirely by 2050 while requiring the transportation sector to run on 50% renewables in the same time frame. The state already has some modest goals in place with regard to the Massachusetts Global Warming Solutions Act requiring Massachusetts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 80% from 1990 levels by 2050. So I think that we are seeing clearly that Hawaii's 100% goal was leadership. I think renewable energy portfolio standards and 100% goals are great ideas and ambitious states that want to reach for them. I think it also shows with the transportation goal that maybe Hawaii is onto something and wanting to have a real vision for the transportation sector. At the same time, Massachusetts and others risk being all talk and no follow through. So it will be important here in Hawaii and also in Massachusetts and other places that these mandates are backed by extremely solid planning and plans to execute going forward. Now we're going to take a break and when we come back, we'll have more news from across the country in the world. Hi, I'm Tim Appichella. I'm the host for Moving Hawaii Forward and the show is dedicated to transportation and traffic issues in Oahu. We are all frustrated by sitting in our cars in bumper-to-bumper traffic and this show is dedicated to talking with folks that not only we can define the problem but we hopefully can come to the table with some solutions. So I invite you to join me every Tuesday at 12 noon and let's move Hawaii forward. I'm Stan Energyman and I want you to be here every Friday. Noon! ThinkTekHawaii.com. Watch the show. Be there. Hello, I'm Marianne Sasaki. Welcome to ThinkTekHawaii where some of the most interesting conversations in Honolulu go on. I have a show on Wednesdays from one to two called Life in the Law where we discuss legal issues, politics, governmental topics and a whole host of issues. I hope you'll join me. Hello and welcome back to Power of Hawaii. I'm Raya Salter, your host and today we're talking about energy news in Hawaii around the country and around the world as reported in the last week. So let's go ahead and get going. We're talking about news from around the United States. Now, as reported by Robert Walton in Utility Dive yesterday, Tesla batteries are helping to power a small North Carolina island. Now, Ocracoke, a small island off North Carolina has installed 10 first generation Tesla power packs and a small solar array that will help reduce demand charges and maintain reliability in the event the mainland transmission link falters. Now, there are less than 1,000 permanent residents on Ocracoke, but the island's unspoiled beaches attract throngs of tourists every summer. Good for the local economy, but not good for power bills. Linked to the mainland by a single transmission line, demand charges drive up costs while reliability is strained during storms. So, North Carolina Electric Membership Corporation owns a 3 megawatt diesel generator on the island to help reduce demand charges and now the new microgrid will add carbon-free energy to the reliability backstop. Microgrid Knowledge reports... Oh, sorry, moving on to the next story. Let me make a few comments on that about Tesla. Clearly, anyone here hearing that story about the tourist economy and places that have low populations yet need to deal with the bulging on tourists, of course, we identify with that here. In fact, I just came from a legislative briefing that Chris Lee had at the Capitol and Tesla was there talking about their battery storage and the work that they're doing for islands. So it is exciting that islands are taking these opportunities with these ambitious and, frankly, cool new storage projects. I don't mean to bet on any particular horse in terms of Tesla or another provider, but I think that Tesla is certainly putting itself out ahead looking to provide island solutions as we know from American Samoa and also now from North Carolina. So that is clearly something and a company that we're going to want to keep our eyes on. So let's move on to the next story. Microgrid Knowledge reports the local utility... Actually, I think this is going to continue more about North Carolina, but we'll go ahead and do that. Tideland Electric Membership has also installed 150 ecobee smart thermostats to help shift demand during peak times. The project is similar, albeit much smaller, to the microgrid Tesla helped install on the island in American Samoa that I just referred to. This one is powered by 1.5 megawatts solar and Tesla batteries supplying 6 megawatt hours of energy. So the island is poised to go 100% renewable. And the island was previously dependent on petroleum imports to run diesel generators. So great story, island renewable energy success. As also reported by Robert Walton yesterday, the Trump administration is hitting pause on Obama-era efficiency standards. Now, the Obama administration issued several new efficiency regulations in late December. Nonpartisan efforts that still needed to be published in the National Federal Register in order to be finalized. But a 45-day white waiting period means they could not be published until the Trump administration came into office setting up the current situation. That means regulations covering portable air conditioners, walk-in coolers and freezers, commercial boilers, and uninterruptible power supplies are all now being reconsidered. The Obama administration also issued new regulations on pool pumps in December. But those rules will be finalized under a different process, though one that will still allow the Trump administration to have final say. According to the Department of Energy, the new standards for five product classes could potentially save between $15 billion and $35 billion a year. The Obama administration has used appliance standards to try and reduce carbon emissions by at least 3 billion metric tons cumulatively by 2030. So this is, let's hope that these rules are allowed to go forward. This is really a case where energy efficiency is by far in a way the first and least cost and most just way to save money, save energy, and reduce carbon emissions. I think the energy community was very excited about these rules, and that's the thing about energy efficiency. I was an attorney with the Natural Resources Defense Council, and I can tell you, we fully understand that chillers and walking coolers and thinking about what happens with your refrigerator may not be the sexiest thing in the world, but when aggregated, it is extremely important. So let's hope that things like energy efficiency standards that save us money, that save energy, that help the environment, can continue to be nonpartisan efforts. Here's one from this morning that is another explosive piece of news. So Timothy Kama of The Hill reported this morning that President Trump is to advance Keystone and Dakota Access Pipelines. President Trump today signed orders to advance construction of the controversial Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines. The orders do not grant the final permits needed for the oil pipelines, but will move both projects towards approval. A person familiar with the action said, the Trump administration began to inform lawmakers starting late Monday that the orders were coming. The orders fulfill Trump's campaign promise to approve both pipelines, which have staunch support from the oil industry and the GOP, but are strongly opposed by Democrats and environmentalists. If fully built by developer TransCanada Corp, Keystone would run from Alberta, Canada, which contains a bulk of that nation's oil sands to the Gulf Coast of Texas, bringing heavy oil sands petroleum to refineries. Last month, the Obama administration ordered a comprehensive environmental impact statement to be conducted on the Dakota Access Pipeline before any decision could be made on building its final section below Lake Oohi in North Dakota. Now, the pipeline has been the subject of international protests that have fired up environmentalists and indigenous rights activists. They say that the pipeline threatens the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and further development of oil infrastructure threatens the climate. This is explosive news to folks who follow energy, issues of energy in the environment. We have known for a long time that the Keystone Exxon Pipeline has been strongly opposed by environmentalists, and I think as equally as, if not more explosive, is the issue with the Dakota Access Pipeline. Really, the international community has rallied behind the Sioux at Standing Rock, and I think to come in on his first day of office and sign an order without in any way looking to reach out to the various constituencies that have been so passionate about this, personally I will add as my own anecdote I think that that's troubling, and I guess we shall see, but I suspect that the folks who are standing up to stop that pipeline and the Keystone Exxon Pipeline aren't going anywhere, anywhere soon, so hopefully we're not seeing just a real standoff situation being moved into place by these actions. Moving on, Robert Walton of Utility Dive reported this morning that President Trump has a new FERC pick. This is always interesting stuff. President Donald Trump is expected to nominate Commissioner Cheryl LaFleur to lead the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission according to reports replacing current Chairman Norman Bay. Now, while all current FERC members are Democrats, Bloomberg reports LaFleur is seen as more sympathetic to the industry. She previously served as Executive Vice President and Acting CEO of National Grid USA. Now, LaFleur is expected to serve as chair until Republicans can be nominated to the Commission Green Wire reports. There are currently three sitting regulators and two vacancies on the five-person commission, Gavin. So, yes. This is interesting. I think in terms of the nominations that we've seen from the Trump administration, this one is relatively non-controversial. Commissioner LaFleur has been at the Commission. She's got a lot of experience, I think is well regarded by colleagues. This particular move, I don't think, is as controversial as some of the others. So, congratulations to Commissioner LaFleur, and we shall see what Republicans and others come together to do to fill the other vacancies in that important energy commission. Moving right along, Gavin Bade reported today that important Trump energy nominations had been put on hold. The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee has indefinitely suspended confirmation votes on Donald Trump's nominees to lead the Department of Energy and the Department of the Interior, the Hill reports. The Committee on Monday said the votes would be delayed until further notice, the Commission for the Delay, and did not reportedly respond to requests for comment. In the Environment and Public Works Committee, Democrats will continue their campaign against Oklahoma Attorney General Scott Pruitt, Trump's pick for the EPA, by holding a panel discussion with environmental groups today, according to Politico. No vote yet has been set for Pruitt. As reported by Gavin Bade of Utility Dive also, actually, let's stop for a second before we move on to Rick Perry. So this is interesting. I think folks had pretty much understood that former Texas Governor Rick Perry was going to head the Department of Energy. We don't have a lot of news on why things are put on hold. I think we can perhaps expect, I won't try and have a crystal ball, but we'll see how things move forward. And the next story I was going to talk about was about Governor Perry, former Governor Perry on how he really pledges to protect energy, R&D, and climate science. So we'll go forward and talk about that while we know that perhaps those nominations are on hold and we don't know what's at play there. So former Texas Governor Rick Perry has been President Donald Trump's pick to lead the Department of Energy, and he told Senate lawmakers that he regrets an earlier proposal to eliminate the agency and said he would protect its mission if confirmed. Contrary to media reports that the Trump administration is planning to gut DOE funding, Perry said he would defend DOE programs for renewables, fossil fuels, and advanced nuclear energy, as well as basic and applied research and development. Now Perry, like other Trump nominees, says he believes the climate is changing, but broke with mainstream science on the causes and the pace of change. Perry declined to say whether he believes climate change demands the transformation of the energy sector. So we'll see. There's a lot going along with former Texas Governor Perry's nomination. Now as we discussed when we had Carl Robigo on Power Up Hawaii, he revealed how much of the Department of Energy is really about safeguarding our nuclear assets. So I think Governor Perry has come in and realized he's got some really important responsibilities here. So thank you so much and thank you so much for joining me for another edition of Power Up Hawaii, and we'll see you next week. Thank you very much.