2022 Energy Justice Panels: Ahupuaʻa Energy Systems + Building Local Power

The Hawaiʻi Energy Conference was this past week. Traditionally, this event garners attention from (major) industry representatives throughout Hawaiʻi and the global community to share ideas about power generation and delivery in a rapidly changing environment. There are a handful of panels that we are looking forward to watching, but we couldn’t help but notice that community voices, Indigenous perspectives, and locally-owned power alternatives aren’t equally represented. 

For decades, Hawaiian leaders and communities have been left out of the conversations and decision making around energy projects. However, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has finally acknowledged “colonialism" not only as a driver of the climate crisis, but also as an ongoing issue that exacerbates communities’ vulnerability to it, and that decolonization is central to our global response to climate change.

Now, amidst Hawaiʻi’s race to meet its renewable energy goals, is the perfect time to address the colonial practices and legacies woven into our energy system- in which Hawaiian Electric remains beholden to corporate shareholder interests, and the majority of Hawaiian Electric’s developers have been and continue to be multinational corporations that treat energy, whether from renewable or fossil fuel sources, as a means of making a profit rather than as part of the public trust. Meanwhile, imported oil costs get passed down to individuals, which causes Hawai’i ratepayers to have some of the highests bills in the nation. These energy injustices can’t be ignored. Shalanda Baker, an icon in the energy justice sphere and author of Revolutionary Power: An Activist’s Guide to the Energy Transition, writes about this ongoing need:

“Hawaiʻi’s law failed to make explicit mention of any equity or social justice concerns. So, at best, advocates must now fight to ensure that issues of equity find their way into clean energy programs and policies adopted to implement the state’s 100% energy law.” 

This is the fight we are in today. A first step in this process is recognizing that there are alternatives to the dominant, top-down decision-making approach and centralized energy system. This week, we hosted two virtual panels that were meant to balance out the conversation with meaningful perspectives from kānaka maoli practitioners and grassroots leaders, who described their vision and work to create a culturally-grounded, resilient, democratic, and localized energy future for Hawaiʻi. In case you missed them, you can watch them below or on our Facebook page!

Tuesday May 10 at 6pm: Ahupuaʻa Energy Systems – Learn about how Hawaiian systems thinking and resource management can inform a just and equitable energy future with Walter Ritte, founder of ʻĀina Momona; Eric Enos, founder of Kaʻala Farms; and Maui Council Vice-Chair Keani Rawlins-Fernandez. This panel will be moderated by Rachel James,Staff attorney for the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission. 

Wednesday May 11 at 6pm: Building Local Power – Hear from community leaders as they share their journey from energy oppression to energy sovereignty through community-owned energy projects with Lori Buchanan from Hoʻāhu Energy Cooperative Molokaʻi; Waiʻanae Homestead resident Kapua Keliʻikoa-Kamai,; Kamalani Keliʻiikuli of Kahuku Community Association; and Ali Andrews, founder of Shake Energy Collaborative. This panel will be moderated by Sebastien Selarque, a Research Assistant at the Hawaiʻi Natural Energy Institute and graduate student at the UH Mānoa’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning. 

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