 Hello, and welcome to Power Up Hawaii, where Hawaii comes together to walk towards a clean, renewable and just energy future. I'm your host, Raya Salter. I'm an energy attorney, clean energy advocate, and community outreach specialist. I'm also the principal attorney of Imagine Power LLC. 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 last week. First, let's take a look at some recent developments in clean energy and clean energy policy in the islands. First, I want to talk about a great visit that ThinkTech paid to Kauai, just on Friday. We went to Kauai to look at some really groundbreaking and innovative projects that are happening there. First, we went to visit Green Energy, which is actually according to Green Energy. The nation's first closed-loop biomass facility, so it's an interesting project, what they're doing there, and we went, we had an entire tour of the plant, we're going to have a special that's going to go more in depth and show footage from our trip. But they are, they're harvesting wood for wood chips that they then go ahead and heat up, and they use the power or they use the wood chips to generate energy onsite that then gets sold to the utility, KIUC. And it's interesting the way that they're doing it because they are, they're replanting for one, the trees that they take. But they're also, they're using invasive species. The invasive species are the ones that they are harvesting. They were placed there in a previous time. They're harvesting the invasive species and they're replacing it with not necessarily a native species, but a more hospitable type of tree. And so it's just a really exciting project to watch really this Green Energy plant go from soup to nuts in a way that hopefully will be sustainable for Kauai. And the folks there were very welcoming and it was wonderful to meet them. So thank you so much folks at Green Energy. We also had a fantastic first hand look at the KIUC Tesla project that is really the first of its kind that is on the island. So it's on more than 50 acres. We've got 272 Tesla power packs and 50,000 solar panels. So it's a huge array, lots of batteries. And the battery plus PV is actually owned and operated by Tesla. And so they are functionally a generator after they store this power. They are dispatching this power to KIUC, which they can use at times at night or other times where they need power in particular where their renewable energy peak during the day, they can use this at night. And it's really moving them forward towards renewable energy goals where they now feel they can get 100% renewable energy by 2020. Great, thank you so much, Beth Tokioka. Thank you so much, John Yoshimura of Tesla for having us over so we could get a first hand look at those projects. And we are going to bring you more. We're going to show you that footage in a few weeks. So tune in on Think Tech Hawaii, and you're going to hear a lot more about that. So other news, it's interesting. There's a lot of news I like to share as I'm going through reporting and talking to folks, I like to share things that reflect how Hawaii and the Hawaii clean energy market is being viewed nationally and globally. So this next story is as reported by PV Magazine, in the island of Oahu, the number of solar permits has fallen to an all-time low, 449 in 2017. And the number of systems that have come online in the first quarter are down 37% from 201, 37% from 2015. Now, in 2015, Hawaii's PUC eliminated the state's net metering incentive. Since then, the number of permits pooled on Oahu for solar installations has plummeted, reaching a new low in 2017, as I mentioned, of only 449. So according to PV Magazine's analysis, the elimination of net metering in 2015 in the second quarter of that year has been the bringer of this steady decline that started slowly but is continuing to gather steam as the program fades to a distant memory. Now, again, according to data compiled by PV Magazine's America's editor, Christian Rosevan, since the net metering decision, the news has not been good for the Oahu market. So I think a lot of people have a lot of perspectives on what the end of net metering in Hawaii has meant to the solar industry. Some feel that it has led to a direct decline. Some feel that this has been perhaps due to solar companies not willing to put more of their own skin in the game and be willing to accept a new reality. But I wanted to, regardless, and some, maybe the utility saying that it reflects the challenges on the grid and a need to slow down. So I just, I wanted to share that these perspectives are still being talked about nationally. And it's important to see what Hawaii is doing through net metering through the lens of what's also happening throughout the country. Many jurisdictions have ended net metering and others are looking to put something in place that can continue to incentivize clean energy, while others are doing things that are more regressive in terms of incentives and powering clean energy forward. So something important to keep our eyes on. Next, another perspective that I think is very positive. Hawaii examples are being talked about in the news in a way that is fueling enthusiasm on battery storage. So an article by Green Biz highlights a HECO project as a storage leader. Energy storage advocates love dreaming about applications that marry intermittent renewable generating sources with storage that can capture power for use during times when the sun isn't shining on solar panels or the wind isn't blowing turbines into a power creating resource. While there's absolutely a correlation between organizations interested in clean power and those evaluating energy storage. Right now, it's not that it's an unusual model, but it's that storage is sort of coming out as the ingenue and having its day. So energy storage installations used solely for this purpose generally must be capable of supporting the power needs of the site for anywhere from 30 minutes to up to two hours. Although the market for technology that can provide backup durations of four hours is becoming highly competitive according to ongoing McKinsey research. So here's where we come to where Hawaii is an example. So as this article states, an example comes from Hawaii, where Hawaiian Electric Company has been using one megawatt of energy storage installed at 29 customer sites, including local Albertsons and Whole Foods grocery stores to help these facilities manage power strikes, spikes, and reduce their consumption during peak demand periods. The lithium ion technology and software being used by the utility comes from STEM. We've got a quote from the utility. These customer-cited solutions strengthen Hawaiian Electric's renewable planning as we build towards our commitment to 100% clean energy future. Noted Dora Nakafuji, who is the director of the Utilities Renewable Planning Team in a statement. This shows we can scale behind the meter energy storage to create a more stable and efficient grid as we provide customers with higher levels of renewable energy to reduce fossil fuel use and greenhouse gas emissions. I think it's just it continues to be very exciting that Hawaii's leadership, HECO's leadership, KIUC's leadership on clean energy really is on specific clean energy projects continues to lead the country and generate a lot of interest. I had a conversation yesterday with Hermina Morita and Marco Mengelstorff on MENA, Marco and me, where I was a guest hose yesterday. And we were talking about what it means for Hawaii to be a leader. And what does it mean as we have these new style projects? What does it mean for islands groups of folks who might be looking to start a cooperative or go off the grid or just the state governments who are looking to move forward with these type of projects? So we want to see this leadership. We want to see this innovation. But nobody wants to be a laboratory in terms of being completely experimental with what with our needed energy resources. And I think it was very helpful. MENA, who of course was the former chairwoman of the Hawaii Public Service Commission, really thought that we had to look at costs, that we had to look at opportunity costs. But both MENA and Marco felt that utilities here were being savvy in terms of negotiating agreements that helped, like the Tesla agreement in Kauai, minimize some risk to the utility and the utility customers in that Tesla is the one responsible for owning and operating that facility. It is not owned by KIEC. So going forward, I think that's good news. I think it's great development. I think that the utilities here are looking at ways where they can manage utilizing new technology, being bold to demonstrate how these things can work. Yet also, cooling their powder, keeping their powder dry a little bit, as technology develops and as costs continue to go down and as new technologies are going to come to the fore. So really exciting. Next, talk about a new partnership that seeks to forward solar heat and hot water heaters in the islands. Next generation energy has inked in agreement with Pacific Energy Alternatives to make SunBandit, that's the brand, SunBandit, solar hybrid water heating systems more immediately accessible to solution hungry builders, contractors, and property owners throughout the Hawaiian islands. SunBandit is the world's first certified UL listed PV powered solar hot water, solar water heating system, according to SunBandit. The partnership, along with NGE SunBandit technology, was introduced this month at the Hawaii Maui Energy Conference. So we know that Hawaii has the most expensive electricity rates in the nation, nearly double the national average. Yet a majority of Hawaiian households in Hawaii use electricity to heat their water. Something that it traditionally accounts for around 35% of home energy bills. So Hawaiian Electric touts solar water heating as an easy way to go solar while reducing energy costs. But industry wide adoption of standard mechanical, meaning pump driven, solar water heating systems has failed to meet expectations, often because of ongoing maintenance issues, again according to SunBandit. So SunBandit now feels that their certified solar hot water heating solution does more to eliminate fluids, leaks, pump stations over heating, stagnation, complicated installation and maintenance that can erode the value proposition of traditional solar water heating. So I think this is an excellent development. We need to see innovation in solar hot water heating. Solar hot water heating is one of the real win-wins for solar energy here in Hawaii and also a real win for low income, moderate income. Everyone who can really, if you can carve out 15, 20% of your energy bill by using solar to heat your hot water. Also those who may be living without enough hot water because you may have several folks in a home, you may not have enough money or you may just be running out of hot water. So this can really be a good solution for Hawaii for many places. So it's great to see that there's innovation happening in that technology. So let's see what happens going forward. Moving on to some national issues, led by steep declines in coal, US energy sector emissions fell 1.7% last year. Energy related carbon emissions in the United States declined to 1.7% to 5,107 million metric tons, largely due to a steep drop in the amount of coal fire generation being utilized. This is according to the US Energy Information Administration. So energy related CO2 emissions in 2016 from petroleum and natural gas increased by 1.1% and 0.9% while coal related emissions decreased 8.6%. We'll talk a little bit more about that after the break. Hi, I'm Carol Cox. I'm the new host on Eyes on Hawaii. Make sure you stay in the know on Hawaii. Join us on Tuesdays at 12 noon. We will see you then. Aloha. Hi, I'm Cheryl Crozier-Garcia. I'm the host of Working Together on Think Tech Hawaii. It's a program where we discuss the impact of change on workers, employers, and the economy. So join us every other Tuesday from 4 o'clock to 4.30. We're live in the studio on Working Together in Think Tech Hawaii. Take care. See you soon. Bye. Hi, I'm Stephen Phillip Katz. I'm a licensed marriage and family therapist in Hawaii. And I do a show called Shrink Wrap Hawaii, where shrinks and sometimes other people come on and talk about the art and science of psychology, talking to people, relationships. So if you are curious about shrinks and want to be shrunk and don't know where to go, tune in to Shrink Wrap Hawaii. All right? All right. So welcome back to Power Up Hawaii. We've been talking about reductions in greenhouse and CO2 from coal, according to the US Energy Information Agency. So the agency said that by comparing the 1.7 decline in energy-related CO2 with a 1.6% estimate of economic growth, the United States last year decreased the carbon intensity of the economy 3.3% last year. So this is interesting news. Really, it's not necessarily a new story. I think that one thing that has come from so much public attention coming to the EPA, Donald Trump's initiatives, wanting to back away from the Korean power plan, wanting to back away from the Paris Agreement, there's been a lot of focus on clean energy, clean energy jobs, coal, coal jobs, and what is really going on. What are the economic forces that are really going on underneath? Hi, I'm Tim Apachello. I'm the host of Moving Hawaii Forward, a show dedicated to transportation issues and traffic issues here on Oahu. Join us every other Tuesday at 12 noon. And as we discuss how we try to solve our traffic headaches, not to include just the rail, but transit and carpooling and everything in between. So join us every other Tuesday, Moving Hawaii Forward. Thank you. All right. Coming back, we're talking about coal, carbon intensity in the US energy sector is down. In large part, coal has been on the decline. I think that folks understand that it's not Obama-era policy that has crushed coal, but the fact that it's really clean burning, with methane emitting, but cleaner burning and cheaper natural gas prices have really been the culprit. But it's great to hear that emissions are down. And hopefully, we can continue that trend despite what may be a lack of leadership on the issue on the national level. I think we'll know clearly what is a lack of leadership on the national level. Now, here's another story. I feel like we've been flip-flopping a bit, sort of good news about what folks think about Hawaii in terms of leadership on storage, perhaps some bad news, and that folks feel like Hawaii's been regressive on PV policy, good news, and that we've got less carbon intensity in the United States, and then some bad news, and that clean energy investment has dropped 17% as China and the US scale back. So as reported by Bloomberg, clean energy, clean energy investment fell 17% in the first quarter of this year, keeping pace with last year's decline as the US and China both scaled back support for wind and solar farms. The 53.6 billion funneled into projects such as renewable energy, efficiency, and electric cars during the first three months of the year marked the lowest investment for the quarter since 2013, according to Bloomberg New Energy Finance. A surge in financing for large offshore wind projects at the start of last year wasn't repeated in 2017. Governments in the biggest markets for renewables are slashing subsidies for new projects, reflecting a plunge in the cost of photovoltaics and wind turbines. At the same time, bright spots for the industry were marked by a $1.4 billion share sale by Tesla Inc. and 650 million for an NLSPA solar project in Mexico that may be the biggest plan of its kind. Germany and France also boosted investment. Brazil and India declined. We've got a quote. It was a relatively quiet first quarter for global investment, but it's too early to assume that 2017 as a whole will be lower than last year, said Abraham Louv, analyst at BNEF. Fascinating to hear about global trends. Of course, we like to watch markets. We like to watch markets quarter by quarter, month by month sometimes. Is it a bad sign, a bad mojo for clean energy? Not necessarily, as very explicitly said here. We've got one quarter of numbers, so we can't be sure. This analyst did feel that it is the lowering the cost, the actual lowered cost itself of some of these renewable products that is helping to reduce investment levels in terms of subsidies being slashed and folks wanting to see the industry perhaps stand more on their own two feet. That is a trend we've seen in the United States. But we also know that these continuing sort of costs, shifts that are going down, may very well continue to power some big projects like the one that's mentioned in New Mexico. And of course, Tesla, which we'll talk about more, has just been a real juggernaut, a real valuation juggernaut. So important to watch, important to see numbers to think about them month by month, quarter by quarter. Hopefully this will not be an overall decline for 2017. Next story, the White House has signaled that it will not defend Obama-era smog rules. The White House signaled last week it will not defend these rules in an ongoing case at the U.S. Court of Appeals from the District of Columbia Circuit. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has asked the D.C. Circuit to postpone oral arguments slated for next week, allowing it time to fully review the rules. The limits were passed in 2015 to tighten standards on ozone, a main ingredient in smog, from 75 parts per billion to 70 parts per billion. Also last week, nearly two dozen senators sent a letter to EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt demanding the agency explain how it intends to address greenhouse gas emissions as it reviews the Clean Power Plan, President Obama's signature carbon regulation. There does seem to be a, it's one thing we do, I do think a lot of people have said that it is coal and fossil fuel interests that have fueled a lot of the efforts to roll back the Clean Power Plan. It's hard to really see where the win is for industry or even the United States. Well, no, yeah, you can see a win for industry and not regulating smog, so I'll pull that all the way back. Of course, it's a huge win. But regulating smog, trying to reduce ozone, especially smog, this is something that has been very effective and shown to improve the environment, improve the air, save lives, and it's extremely disappointing that the Trump administration would really roll back advances that America has made on air quality and seeks to make on air quality. I also think that I would prefer, if I had my druthers and could control the dialogue, I would prefer not to continue to call these things Obama-era rules and the Obama legacy on clean energy because this is, and I have a feeling that if you were here, President Obama would perhaps agree that this was not about one person, this was not about a grudge match between Donald Trump and President Obama. This was about efforts that the President Obama and many, many, many others walked forward as we seek to improve the health of our communities, power the economy, and avert catastrophic climate change. So I wish that we could not talk about this as Obama-era and talk about it as if these are efforts that we all need to walk forward into a cleaner and more just energy future. So extremely disappointing and discouraging. I will say, this is a story that I didn't get to last week, but certainly environmental groups across the country are taking up arms and using the courts to challenge some of these actions. And they've got just, these are some of the organizations that I work for including a Natural Resources Defense Council, you've got Earth Justice, we've got Sierra Club. All of these groups have, not the Natural Resources Defense Council, but Sierra Club certainly has activities here. And I encourage folks to get involved with your local Sierra Club. See how you can get involved to continue to be a voice for clean energy and see how those voices can also provide support in other areas and communities that where votes may be closer than here in Hawaii. So another bright spot, however, is that the EU has affirmed clean energy commitments. While US Secretary of Energy Rick Perry informed his G7 counterparts that the US is currently reviewing its energy and climate policies, all others joined the European Union in reaffirming their solid commitment and determination to implement the Paris Agreement and continue the clean energy transition. EU Energy and Climate Action Commissioner Miguel Arias Kenyette said, he made the statement following a G7 energy ministerial in Rome on April 9th that also included the energy ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom. So the G7 meeting was part of the preparations for the gathering of the G7 leaders in Tower Mina, Sicily, on May 26th. So I think it is, it's interesting because as folks were leading up to Paris and as folks were thinking and talking about climate negotiations in the past, say five to 10 years, a really huge part of it was that, the United States must step forward and do what it can to Kirby missions or why should any of the other countries take action given that the United States is such a huge emitter and there was so much talk about what will the United States do? Why should China or India follow suit if the United States is not willing to do that? Why will Europe follow suit? Why should any other country in the developing world follow suit? And I think a mix of many factors which could be diplomatic and also economic have moved that needle a bit I think in a way that is encouraging. So even though we've got the United States saying we are no longer going to be looking at reducing or prioritizing reducing greenhouse gas emissions, you've got other world leaders continuing to affirm that they will continue to lead on climate and they will continue to lead on clean energy and that includes China and that includes India. So encouraging news that the rest of the world is going to continue to power forward. Although of course it's hard to see a world where greenhouse gas emissions are reduced enough to stop catastrophic climate change without the United States participation both directly for our own emissions and also support to other nations. On to California. The California PUC has approved a doubling of self-generation incentive funding tilted towards storage. So the California Public Utilities Commission unanimously approved an order that doubles the budget for the state's self-generation incentive program and directs the additional funding to energy storage projects. The PUC ordered that beginning in 2017 the state's three investor-owned utilities shall collect 83 million on an annual basis through 2019 for the program. 85% of the 249 million in funding over three years is directed to fund energy storage projects with a remaining 15 directed to renewable energy generation projects. So super interesting. I think that's something very comparable to things that have happened here. We have seen that we have not have as much public support or rolling back of some of the incentives for storage or no, no, no, not rolling back incentives but some efforts to make incentives that failed in the legislature and for its own reasons but that in California they're finding ways to provide incentives and make it work. So thank you again for joining me. I hope to see you next week on Power Up Hawaii on Think Tech Hawaii. Aloha.