 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. So 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, we're going to look at some recent developments in clean energy and clean energy policy in the islands. First, big news, Hawaii takes leadership on climate. So as many may have already heard, Hawaii has become the first American state to pass environmental measures that adhere to the Paris Climate Agreement just days after President Donald Trump announced the U.S. withdrawal from the international pact. Truly, in this day and age, it is time for states and governors to lead Hawaii's governor, David E. Gay, said at a press conference on Tuesday ahead of signing the two bills into law. So we've got Senate Bill 559 and House Bill 1578, both commit to expanding methods to reduce greenhouse gas emissions across the state. They also target agricultural practices with the goals of improving soil health and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a statement from the governor's office. We've talked about many times on this show that in lieu of federal support for clean energy investment, in lieu of federal support for greenhouse gas emissions, reductions that states and cities were resolved to lead the way, and Hawaii steps forward and proclaims that Hawaii is going to adhere to the Paris Agreement. And as I've said many times, I think this is fantastic news. I think this is progressive news. And it is incredibly important, as the governor also said, we are not standing by the Paris Agreement simply because Hawaii needs to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Of course, we need to reduce our carbon footprint for a lot of reasons, including greenhouse gas emissions reductions, energy security, energy affordability, and other reasons. However, it is vital that we stand with other islands and other island nations in solidarity and moral authority as we face the catastrophic effects of climate change in not generations, but in our lifetimes. We're seeing rising sea levels that are already causing consequences for the whole islands of Hawaii and for other Pacific islands. So I think three cheers for moral leadership, three cheers for climate leadership in the instance of a vacuum of federal, unfortunate vacuum of federal leadership on climate. So the next news is interesting. It's about how Hawaii is really becoming the face of the cutting edge of clean energy. And I think that's something that is happening more and more. It's one of the reasons I'm so glad to be bringing news about energy and climate from the islands in particular. So HBO—I don't know if you caught it—HBO and the Vice News Show covered Hawaii's clean energy leadership. So HBO's Vice News unpacked details behind Tesla's recent installation of a huge solar energy plant on the island of Kauai, similar to the Tesla Solar City microgrid built on an island in American Samoa. The sustainable energy system at Kauai combines the use of a 52 megawatt hour commercial Tesla power pack 2 battery system with a 13 megawatt solar farm. So this, for anyone who watches ThinkTech, is not a brand new thing. I think the story here, you know, we went—I myself went with the ThinkTech team to Kauai to take a look at that particular project with KIUC in Tesla. It's really cool. It's really interesting. I think it's just been getting a tremendous amount of press around the world. I think it's extremely positive, because it is the first of its kind—fair enough to say the first of its kind in the United States, as the article said, there was this project that Tesla also did in American Samoa. And so it is very newsworthy, and it has been generating news all across the country. And I think that's exciting for Hawaii. I think people are excited about the growth of really cutting-edge green energy here in the islands. However, I think there is a slight danger. I mean, I think the articles are starting also in a way to become sort of pro-Tesla articles. And we—nothing against Tesla and all the other many companies that are competing for market share in the solar and storage and renewable energy, you know, distributed energy resources market. But you know, I saw one headline that said, Hawaii banks on Tesla. Hawaii relies on Tesla. And I don't think that's true. I think it's fantastic that we've got this great groundbreaking project. I wish it the very best of luck. In that instance, Tesla is actually banking on Hawaii because it is Tesla that has built and is owning and operating that plant and selling the power to Kauai's utility. So let's keep that in perspective. But I think it's really exciting that a cutting-edge youth-oriented show like Vice on HBO is focused on Hawaii and energy. Cool. Next story. Hawaii regulators extend HECO's EV fast charger program for five more years. So the Hawaii PUC has approved Hawaiian Electric Company's request to extend its DC fast charger promotion for electric vehicles for another five years. So the DC fast charger program is designed to encourage ownership of plug-in electric vehicles in the state. HECO, a subsidiary of course of Hawaiian Electric Industry, said in a statement on Thursday. So the PUC extended the rates of HECO's two EV pilot charging stations, Commercial Public Electric Charging Service, or EVU, and Commercial Electric Charging Facility, or EVF, and asked the company to calculate new cost schedules. So the EVU program allows HECO to operate up to 25 publicly accessible DC fast charge facilities on Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island. The EVF program provides businesses with financial incentives to install public fast chargers which are metered separately from other uses. The PUC said the fast charger program aligns with the state's objective to support EV adoption and reduce fossil fuel use and transportation. There are more than 5,000 EVs currently registered in the state. Fast chargers are capable of bringing a conventional EV from empty to an 80% charge in about 30 minutes. So folks, we have talked about EVs and various issues happening with EVs in Hawaii for some time now. So we know they're just, to be completely honest, there is a world of policy that is working together but I think has yet to really adhere to make electric vehicles a real win-win proposition for consumers in Hawaii. So we've got, we do have some fast charging stations. We do not have enough. We talked about how you can get a Nissan Leaf after rebates, a brand new Nissan Leaf, for about $12,000 on the big island, however, good luck in making a trip from one side of the island to the other and having time to charge and time to get back. So that is not practical. That is not a practical solution for transportation. That I think is too much to ask from any consumer investing in a new car, much less than new technology, the type of risk that you will be stuck somewhere overnight for the lack of fast chargers. So we've got these fast chargers. We perhaps don't have enough of them. So it is fantastic that at least this project program is going to continue to move forward so that we'll continue to have fast chargers but we need more. I think it brings up a lot of questions. We had a technology fellow on this show a couple of months ago now who has his own ideas from what some really exciting technology about that can charge, technology where you can actually charge the car and then we're going to talk about this a little bit later in the show. The car can also be used as a demand response asset and the actual charging station helps facilitate that. And it also helps facilitate additional business models that could provide revenue streams. So I think the question is we need more fast chargers. We need them now. We've got some incentives so that folks can start building them. Query, do we have the right incentives? Are we getting them fast enough? Are the pieces of the puzzle fast charging technology that can use the car as a demand response asset charging in at home and at workplaces and at playplaces even when people live in either private homes or they live in apartments? This is the beginning of a circle of solutions that need to come together so that really EVs can be a win-win-win-win on the islands. And I think we're still waiting for these pieces to come together. And there are more pieces in terms of rideshare and other things that could happen. And I think electrification of the transportation system is going to be a big part of the solution in Hawaii as may be hydrogen and hydrogen vehicles. I for one would love to see state vehicles, the state commit to state vehicles at the very least going towards 100% renewable be that hydrogen or electric. So good news that we've got this pilot program going forward. Very if it's big enough, query if the transportation sector is being addressed in a cohesive manner where the policies are coming together in a way that really allows people to take advantage of the new technologies even though I think they really want to be on the early adopters. So let's all work together to try and make that happen faster here in Hawaii. So another thing I think that's really cool, I love talking about folks coming together to talk about clean energy, clean energy development, sustainability, adaptation for the island. So about 50 key leaders and stakeholders from across the state recently convened on Kauai to develop recommendations for the Aloha Plus Challenge dashboard. So the group discussed shared metrics to track progress, provide accountability and advance action on Hawaii's statewide 2030 sustainability goals. So Celeste Connors, executive director of Hawaii Greengrove, said tracking Hawaii's sustainability goals is critical to achieving the Aloha Plus Challenge. The dashboard holds exciting opportunities for innovation to capture community-driven data, increase county-level measures and enhanced visuals and interactive features, said Connors. Its purpose is to inform policy and inspire action. So the Aloha Plus Challenge was launched in 2014 by the governor, county mayors, office of Hawaiian affairs, state legislatures and a number of public and private partners. So we're about to go take a break and we will be right back with more power and energy on Power Up Hawaii. Hello and welcome back to Power Up Hawaii where Hawaii comes together to walk towards a clean, renewable and just energy future. I'm your host, Raya Salter. Welcome back. Lots of news in Hawaii and around the world on clean energy today and this week. So the next story is about a company that's getting some financing to do some interesting work. So a company called Sanova is getting big financing for energy projects in Hawaii and on other islands. So CIT.com, a provider of commercial lending and leasing services, today announced that its energy finance business served as sole leader ranger and administrative agent for a $140 million senior secured team loan facility to Sanova Energy Corporation, a Houston based solar energy company. Now the financing will support the acquisition of completed and operating residential solar PV energy projects across the continental U.S. Hawaii, Puerto Rico and Guam. So I think it's just very interesting. Before I became a clean energy advocate, I did utility mergers and acquisitions and also financing for utility projects. So I just think one of the big things that is happening right now is I think as part of the story is that as net metering has begun to wax and wane across the country, that net metering policy that really gave the retail rate of electricity for folks who put PV on their house and allowed them to sell their energy back at the retail rate, which created a hefty bump to the clean energy industry and I'm glad that it did. As we're seeing that begin to wax and wane, I think you've seen a lot just in competition, intensifying in the solar industry and now with the advent of battery storage, competition is blazing hot as people try to come forth with new technologies and grab market share. I mean it is a really dog eat dog out there and I think one of the things that has happened with the sort of sunset of some of the net metering policies in the country is you've seen some of the smaller players leave the market and you've seen some of the bigger players leave certain markets when policy did not go their way. So I think things have gotten tougher for the solar industry. So it's interesting to see now in that environment who is rising to claim market share. We know that Tesla is roaring forward to become, I'm sure their goal is to become the former's provider of PV, battery storage, cars and other solutions and we've got other companies that are trying to make this leap too. So you've got Sanova now, $190 million to get going on their business model. Maybe we'll talk more about exactly what they're planning to do another time but looks like investors are still bullish on what clean energy companies can do and I think the competition is only going to increase. So I want to go ahead and just this is not energy in particular but it's energy and sustainability and I want to start talking a little bit about the World Youth Congress. So the World Youth Congress is coming to Honolulu and it is a global gathering of grassroots game changers in terms of our young people from all over the world nominated as leaders in their communities who are committed to serving their neighborhoods and communities and counties in the 21st century with sustainability. So this is the first time this is coming to actually note is not the first time that it's coming to Hawaii. I think it was here in 1999 and as according to this article it has sailed like the Hokulea around the world in the past two decades. It's been in Morocco, Scotland, Canada, Turkey and Brazil. So on Sunday just after the Hokulea also returns after three years. The World Youth Congress will open its week long program bringing together youth to generate a game plan from the generation that will grow up with the UN sustainable development goals. Now it will be from June 18th to the 24th in Honolulu and this is a big opportunity for future generations to organize a sustainable development movement to end poverty and protect our earth. So I think the World Youth Congress is a big deal. It's coming. It's going to be here in a few weeks. I encourage folks. I think they're ways for folks to be host families. I think they're taking volunteers. I'm planning to volunteer at the World Youth Congress and nothing excites me more than seeing young people, strong, smart, committed leaders who are young teens and younger who are really coming forward to assert their own agenda and their own dominance as young people. And in this particular instance, what could be more important than the future generation standing up for what the current generations are doing to their future. So I think that's fantastic. And also, of course, we've got to shut up the Hokulea's return. I myself plan to be at Alamoana Beach Park maybe way, way, way back in the crowd to just get a little glimpse of what happens when the Hokulea returns to Hawaii. So that's going to be super exciting. Doesn't have specifically to do with clean energy, but how could we not talk about the Hokulea's return? And certainly after the event happens, plenty of folks will be talking about it. And we'll also make a mention of it on this show here. So we're going to move away from the islands and talk about clean energy policy, clean energy news happening around the world and the rest of the country and around the world. So we know we knew that this was coming, but it is concerning to many that cuts in, according to what the Trump proposed budgets, cuts are coming to clean energy programs. So Trump wants to gut a key division of the Department of Energy designed to accelerate the development of clean energy like solar and wind power. The administration's 2018 budget would slash funding for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy by a stunning 71.9%. Those deep spending cuts are alarming. The last seven Senate confirmed individuals who led the Renewables Office, including three who served under Republican presidents. So budget documents published by the DOE argue that the spending cuts to the Renewables Office will focus resources on early stage research and development. The DOE added that it also reflects an increased reliance on the private sector to fund later stage research, development, and commercialization of energy technologies. So deciding to gut by 71% the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, I believe, is a disastrous plan. You know, it's very difficult to not be political about what is happening with the Trump administration and clean energy on the international and just federal level and the intentions for the state. So we'll go ahead and move on to the replacement of the clean power plan that's taking shape. So we've been all wondering, what will the Trump administration replace the clean power plan with? And I think we're starting to understand a little bit more. So for the most part, the Trump administration's approach to undoing Obama-era environmental rules has been kept under wraps. The major question has been how or whether the EPA would propose a replacement or seek to simply eliminate the rule and thereby opening up a fight over the underlying science and the agency's mandate to regulate carbon emissions. Now we've got reports that the White House plans to argue that the clean power plan overstepped by extending beyond the fence line of power plants. That could indicate the agency plans to release a scaled-back rule opposed to undoing it entirely. While a court battle is certain to follow, despite whatever form the review takes, environmental advocates told the newspaper it was too soon to comment on the fight ahead. So OMB typically takes about two months to review a rule but can take additional time. There are a variety of ways Pruitt's EPA can replace the CPP. If the administration chooses to replace the climate policy with the less stringent rule, it could result in a narrower regulatory package that would require only small efficiency improvements to existing coal plants. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt wrote such an alternative plan in 2014. So if the EPA fails to offer a plan to replace the CPP, the agency could be at risk for lawsuits claiming that it is not fulfilling its obligation to regulate greenhouse gases, which it determined was a public health threat in a 2009 Endangerment finding. So challenging the Endangerment finding would be an uphill battle. Energy lawyers told Utility Dive because the EPA would have to prove in court that GHGs are not a public health threat. So this is of course an extremely important issue. We've, you know, it's a lot to go into the sort of legal nitty gritty of what's happening with the Clean Power Plan. However, it's not simply as easy as the Trump administration walking away from it entirely. So the Clean Power Plan was devised by the EPA in with a lot of other additional external stakeholders. And it really, it is the plan for the federal government to regulate the greenhouse gas emissions of the utility sector and require that there be reductions. And it was also really what allowed President Obama to go to Paris and put in place the Paris Agreement that the United States had this mechanism. So now we know that the Trump administration wants to come away from that, but it's not simply as easy as just walking away from it entirely. There are, you know, there's been an endangerment finding. You know, there are legal processes that have walked forward to the Clean Power Plan being put forth. And the administration will have to show that there is something that it is doing to mitigate the public health and the endangerment finding. So we shall see what happens. And, you know, it's extremely unfortunate, that the Clean Power Plan is in danger. Well, I think we know that it will not continue for sure under the Trump administration. But I think it's important that we push as hard as we can on a legal front and all other fronts to make sure that the replacement is at least as good as we can hope for us. We fight for more action in this area going forward. So utility M&A is on the rise worldwide. Power and utility executives' appetite for pursuing mergers and acquisition is at a seven-year high, according to a new report from consulting firm EY. The report, which also draws on the firm's biennial power and utilities capital confidence barometer, shows that 59% of power and utility executives responding to the survey said they expect to actively pursue an acquisition in the next 12 months, a 12% increase from the last survey. And 89% of the respondents said they expect their deal pipeline to increase or remain stable over the next 12 months. So this is also super interesting. Like I said, I used to do utility M&A deals and we've talked about before how the volume of deals has been rising. I think, does this mean that we're going to get a new suitor for Hawaiian Electric in the near term? It could, but the trend is certainly in M&A deals that they're wanting to see more go forward. That wraps up another Power Up Hawaii. Thank you so much for joining us. See you next week. Mahalo.