 And welcome to Power Up Hawai'i, where Hawai'i comes together to walk towards a clean, renewable and just energy future. I am 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 Hawai'i, 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. So interestingly, the Department of Hawaiian Homeland's Energy Efficiency Project kicks off. So the department, as we know, owns land across the Hawaiian Islands that it leases out on a 99-year lease basis, to residents of Hawaiian ancestry. Residents, many of whom own their own homes on the lease land, pay their own utility bills. Now, with Hawai'i sky-high rates for electricity, needless utility spending puts a major crimp in many people's finances. So Hawai'i Energy has partnered with Pono Homes, which is a Honolulu-based home efficiency company, to provide retrofits to Department of Hawaiian Homeland's residents free of charge. The program is funded through the state's barrel tax, which levies a small fee on each barrel of oil that gets imported to the Hawaiian Islands. The program covers free, high-efficiency fixture retrofits, which include LED lights, and will deliver energy educational materials as well. Now, the program kicked off early this month, and so far, the department residents participating in the program have received an average of about $400 worth of upgrades to their homes, with payback periods that should be achieved within one year. So this, I think, is excellent. As you've heard, energy efficiency is sort of one of the least sexy clean energy pieces, but it is, by far and away, the first go-to in order to save money, save money, take money off utility bills, and also save energy and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and the related carbon co-pollutants. So it's incredibly important. This is a tool that can help folks save money on their energy bills. And it's fantastic that Hawaii Energy and Ponohong are going to deliver energy savings to folks who live on Hawaiian homelands. $400 is not insignificant, and I think when the news piece talked about needless spending, if you can get a more efficient light and some more efficient appliances, and that means that you're going to save $400 a year and that that particular technology pays for itself within one year, that's just a win-win. So fantastic work. Congratulations Hawaii Energy and congratulations, Ponohomes. In another story, Hawaii is straining to permit batteries as self-supply permits grow. So since Hawaii eliminated the net metering tariff, which allowed for folks to get solar panels and then sell solar back to the grid at the retail price of energy, the state rolled back that program. The state has still struggled to integrate solar into its electricity mix. So the two interim programs, one is which was called a grid supply option that had a cap to the number of folks who could participate. And a customer self-supply program was the name of the second program. So under these new systems, homeowners can install solar on the condition that it does not export electricity back to the grid. So you see what I'm saying, the old net metering program meant that you got that extra income stream because you could sell the power from your solar panels back to the utility at the same price, the retail rate at which you buy it. So now, no more of that. But the two programs that are the substitute programs are still attractive because the rates of electricity in Hawaii are so high. But to maintain a system of self-supply, homeowners need to access batteries. And on the island of Oahu at least, getting a permit for a battery system is lagging far behind the solar systems the utility is approving. By last week, 420 residential rooftop solar systems attached to batteries were ready to be installed as soon as the battery systems were given the go ahead. Unfortunately, the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting has given building permits to only 33, citing safety concerns. So, solar advocates say that the rapid shift from the net metering program made it impossible for manufacturers, consumers, and industry to start designing and installing solar systems with batteries on such sort notice. And that's the reason for the lag between approved systems and battery permits. So, very interesting. I think that in many ways, HECO deserves credit for really managing the largest percentage of rooftop solar penetration in the entire nation, which is up and creeping past 70%. However, the utility has still struggled to work with industry to walk forward to find a way how can we continue this integration of solar. And now batteries are becoming an issue. According to advocates, the net metering program was shut down. So, the net metering program was shut down. So, suddenly, that new systems didn't get a chance, new developers weren't able to develop systems that would be easy for regulators to permit in time. I think that's a credible argument. In some ways, it may be specious because this is not a new thing that folks were going to want battery plus solar power. So, if the technology isn't ready, query who's at issue or who's at fault for the lack of permitting. But in any regard, there is a clearly a 420 permits with the solar part ready to go and only 33 permits have been issued for the batteries. Certainly, that signals that there's a problem. So, I look forward to the utility, the regulators, and industry working together to get past these issues and help people get involved in these programs as they are obviously willing to do and asking for permits. So, next, we'll move on to a waste and energy story. So, Bioenergy Hawaii's waste to energy plans have become clear. Now, Bioenergy Hawaii won't begin construction on its privately funded resource recovery facility at the West Hawaii Concrete Quarry in Waikaloa until at least April 2018. Now, the company won't start taking a sizable bite out of Hawaii Island's solid waste accumulation, which currently registers at more than 500 tons a day until late 2019. The waste separation and anaerobic digesting plant will separate recyclable materials from other types of solid waste. It will then process organic waste and non-recyclable materials to create renewable biofuels and electricity to power its facility and trucks, as well to sell back to entities such as Hawaii Gas and Hawaii Electric Light Company. Compost will also be a byproduct. But Guy Cajino, General Manager of Bioenergy Hawaii, said the facility will be built with the capability to handle more than that, addressing county issues with discarded tires and the Hawaii Water Service Company's concerns about sewage sludge. We can take the sludge, Cajino said during an environmental management commission meeting Wednesday in Kailua, Kona. And in short, yes, we can take the tires as well. The downside is that the more feedstock we take in, the more energy we create. And what do we do with that energy? So it needs to be workable for us. Clint Knox, Vice President of Project Development on the facility, said if the tires were shredded and ground down, the gasification technology employed at the facility could handle the input. So partnerships have been integral to the project's progress, namely one with the Ulupono Initiative created by eBay founder Pierre Omidyar. Ulupono is a 50% equity partner in the facility, which presenters Wednesday said might cost upwards of $60 million and will function as an $80-20 debt-to-equity venture. Now, Andy Naden, a project advisor, said it was Ulupono's idea to transition to a paradigm that allowed the project to move forward relatively expeditiously after decades of delays and setbacks. We have tried very hard to work within the structure that exists, originally state land at Nelha, county trash, and federal funding, Naden said. Our partners at Ulupono suggested to Plan B that we do a completely independent business model using our own trash, private land, and equity funding. So Bioenergy's Hawaii parent company, Pacific Waste Inc. guarantees the facility enough feedstock to ensure viability during its first 10 years of operation, the length of the current contract with Pacific Waste. The facility has been set up for a 40-year initial run with a 10-year option on the back end on roughly 15 acres of land at the Waikatoa Quarry. All right, so I understand that that was a lot of information and a lot of information on how the deal set up. But it's extremely important, and I'll tell you why. It sounds as if this project, which would really provide a tremendous amount of benefit to the Big Island. I mean, I know many of us, we think about the waste that we generate, and we know that we're on this island and that we have finite places to store it, and doesn't it make all the sense in the world to use and recycle as much as we can to generate energy and do as much win-win as we can with waste to be more sustainable and not just continue to outgrow the INA. And it appears that the company was attempting to walk this project forward, but had really had a lot of delays. And then the Ulupano Initiative stepped in with what sounds like a really sizable amount of financing if they're 50% on this. They stepped in to try and move this forward, and what they also seem to be advocating for is a tremendous amount of diversity in terms of what this project is going to do and what they're going to produce. So we're talking about energy for the facility. We're talking about biofuels. We're talking about manure, fertilizer. We're talking about taking in tires. There's just a tremendous amount of activity, and it sounds extremely exciting, and it makes a lot of sense. And also, I think, adds some level of complication to what the project is going to do. But there's no reason that these win-win designs and these win-win products can't be moved forward, I would hope, in the timeframe that's been articulated. So what an exciting project. It's interesting. We talk about what's exciting and what's not exciting. Waste energy facilities are not on the top of folks' list, I think. But when you're talking about what can we do to respect the land, what can we do to reduce the waste, there really are fewer things that become more important, and they also become, we can use existing sites, existing quarries, and really turn waste into, in some cases, products and also in other cases, minimize their impact. So sounds great, Ubupono. Really look forward to seeing this project move forward and all of the exciting products and services that seem to be coming with it. So we've got, what may be, some new products and some new marketing pushes from some solar companies here in the islands. RGS Energy's Sunetric Partners with Sunova Energy is to offer solar systems with battery storage in Hawaii. So Sunetric, a wholly owned subsidiary of RGS Energy and Sunova Energy Corp, is leading, is, according to their press release, a leading residential solar service provider in the US. And they announced that they have joined forces to offer comprehensive solar solutions with battery storage to residential customers in Hawaii. So this is actually extremely interesting, and the reason I wanted to add this piece of information is because we talked before about how industry apparently is racing to provide solutions, battery plus stored solutions that can get permitted. There's a lot of things involved in getting a permit. You need to have the design. You need to have the folks who are doing the permitting have to have some level of comfortability with the systems that they're going to be safe. I think that this sort of demonstrates that in many ways we are in some sort of breaking new ground and in some new territory. And as I was saying before, it's interesting. So we need for folks to come up with systems that are going to make sense, that they're going to be able to install and get permitted. So here's another company that's racing to do that. So we're going to take a break. And when we come back, we'll have more from PowerUp Hawaii. This guy looks familiar. He calls himself the Ultra Fan. But that doesn't explain all this. Why? He planned this party, planned the snacks, even planned to coordinate colored shirts. But he didn't plan to have a good time. Now you wouldn't do this in your own house, so don't do it in your team's house. Know your limits and plan ahead so that everyone can have a good time. Hello, and welcome back to PowerUp Hawaii, where Hawaii comes together to talk about a clean, renewable, and just energy future. A tremendous amount of news coming out of all of the, well, not all of the islands, but coming out of Oahu, the big island, just a lot of energy news on Hawaii, and a lot of big stuff happening on the mainland and in the world as well. So let's talk about something that's been important. And I think a lot of folks have been wondering which way the governor was going to go on this. So on Friday, Governor David Ige appointed James Griffin, a natural energy researcher at the University of Hawaii, to an interim seat on the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission. So as a quote from the governor, we are excited to find a talented individual in Jay Griffin, who has demonstrated expertise and is aligned with our commitment to a 100% clean energy future, Ige said in a statement. So the appointment follows the state Senate's rejection late last month of Ige's previous pick for the PUC, Tom Gorak, on a 15 to 10 vote. Ige had appointed Gorak, who had been the PUC's chief counsel to the three member commissions some two weeks before the other two members, Chairman Randy Awase and Lorraine Akiba, voted to reject next era's energies proposed 4.3 billion acquisition of Hawaiian Electric Company. Griffin, a faculty member who works at the University of Hawaii's Natural Energy Institute, was previously chief of policy and research at the PUC. His interim appointment takes effect on June 5th, and is subject to Senate confirmation. So this is, I think, interesting and positive news. We've been waiting to see who was going to fill in that third seat at the commission. There was this tremendously explosive political back and forth that happened with the Tom Gorak nomination. But clearly, the show must go on and the commission needs to have that third member if it's going to be able to make decisions. So we've got a nominee, and we shall see what happens, whether or not this nomination goes through smoothly or not. So in extremely important national news, President Donald Trump has told multiple administration officials that he will pull the United States out of the Paris Climate Accord. So this is reported by Axios, who cites three unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the decision. So on Saturday, the president tweeted that he would make a final decision about U.S. involvement in the global climate agreement this week. The United Nations Accord, signed by 195 nations in late 2015, aims to limit global average temperature change to 2% Celsius this century. Now, administration officials are split on whether to stay in the deal with EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt calling for withdrawal, and Secretary of Energy Rick Perry pushing for the U.S. to remain in the Accord and renegotiate its terms. For the U.S., the international targets translate into a roughly 80% economy-wide decarbonization goal by 2050. So this is something that we know candidate Trump talked about a lot, and this is something that President Trump has intimated that he was going to do. So he's come back from overseas from his trip in his meeting with European leaders at the G7, and at first he was signaling that he was still staying, mom, and he wasn't sure what he was going to do in terms of the Paris Accord. But I think this report is in line with what folks' expectations are that Donald Trump will indeed withdraw from the Accord. I, of course, on a personal note, think this is a tragedy and a terrible mistake. I think it's encouraging that we have a voice in the administration, Rick Perry, saying, I think we should stay in this and just renegotiate it. It is very difficult to imagine what a renegotiation would look like when 195 countries have already signed on. But it does, right now, look like the climate agreement will go forward without the United States. I have another story next that talks a little bit about what that will mean for our energy sector and our greenhouse gas emissions. So the United States will fall considerably short of its greenhouse gas emissions goals under the Paris Climate Accord without the Obama administration's Clean Power Plan. So a rhodium study called Taking Stock reported that in its estimates, U.S. net greenhouse gas emissions will be 15 to 19% lower than 2005 levels by 2025, significantly off the 28% targeted by the Paris commitment and well below the Clean Power Plan's goals. So the EPA is currently considering rolling back or rescinding the Clean Power Plan and the president is expected to announce a final decision on the Paris Accord this week. Trump has reportedly told close advisors, including the EPA administrator, that he will pull the U.S. out of the international agreement. So here we go. I think it wouldn't be a surprise that if President Trump wants to pull us out of the Paris Accord, that along with that he would pull the administration out of plans, the Clean Power Plan, plans to regulate carbon emissions and mandate reduction. So the Clean Power Plan was a mechanism that came forward under the Obama administration that really provided, gave President Obama the power to go to Paris and say, we here, the United States, is committing to a mechanism to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. And really sort of move that Paris Agreement forward. So without that, according to study, the United States will not be able to meet our goals of greenhouse gas emissions under the Paris Agreement. This is of course, extremely distressing for climate and the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. In a way, if we look back and take stock, the Clean Power Plan has been, you know, really served an extremely important purpose. And I would like to think that mechanism or a type of mechanism will come back in perhaps in post-Trump administration. So it's unfortunate that it looks like the United States, at least in the near term, will not be living up to the Paris Agreement and will also be abandoning the mechanism that would have allowed it to meet those obligations but also reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector. It does, however, look that there will still be some reductions and those reductions may very well be about the other clean energy movements that are moving forward despite the Trump administration policy. So I think it's tough news, but reason to hope and we will see what happens going forward. So in other news, a new Ohio bill would revamp the state's power market for full deregulation. So Ohio's regulatory regime has become a hybrid model of deregulation. The state is part of the PJM organized power market but regulated utilities can still own power plants. To support these assets, utilities often seek riders and other customer charges in drawn out proceedings and increasingly they are turning to the Public Utility Commission of Ohio to secure direct financial support for uncompetitive generators. So first energy is currently pushing for passage of legislation that would provide a subsidy for two nuclear plants. And last week, other Ohio legislators introduced a bill that would provide perpetual subsidies for the two plants run by the Ohio Valley Electric Corporation owned by a group of utilities in the state. So the bills come after first energy and fellow utility AEP pushed for years to secure financial support for a group of ailing baseload generators including coal and nuclear plants. State regulators approved some subsidies such as funds for AEP share of the OVEC plants but FERC blocked a larger package of direct support payments for the plants last year. So this legislation would look to end these debates and the lengthy dockets that are related to it by forcing the regulated utilities to divest their generation assets and it would cut back on the use of non-bipassable riders on customer bills to help pay for such assets. So this is a mechanism through which non-bipassable charges are added to consumer bills and this is a bill that's being supported by the really by consumer groups. So again, we took rather a deep dive into how this works and you kind of have to be a policy want to want to hear those details but I think the story for Hawaii is other states are taking a look at what it means to restructure their markets for electricity to allow for what they hope to be more competition and change the status quo. And there and as I'm about to talk very briefly about for the next story about net metering, you know, perhaps Hawaii may want to consider how can some changes be made here that could be potentially positive as the state looks to move towards renewable energy. We shall see. Also net metering is making a return in Nevada. So in Nevada as I spoke earlier they had also ended their net metering program or rolled it back. Now they are voting to restore it. So that's also something interesting in Hawaii. We had net metering rolled back and we have these two programs that are reaching their caps and also having some challenges but in Nevada they've decided to just bring net metering back. Now when they took away net metering in Nevada I think Solar City and Sun Run both left the market there and I think but really kind of jolted folks in terms of would they be losing out on jobs and does it make sense to sort of not work with industry. So we are seeing a return of net metering in Nevada after a rollback. So all things are possible and we'll see what solutions Hawaii may want to come up with as we work to moving the coming up against caps and also having issues with permitting. So thank you so much. That brings us to an end of another Power Up Hawaii. Wonderful to speak with you Mahalo and Aloha. See you next time.