We want to start this legislative session with an important message, one that we will repeat endlessly: “Climate policy cannot be designed at the expense of [BIPOC] low-income, poor and working-class people.” - Irene HongPing Shen, Trade Unions for Energy Democracy.

On January 12th, the Hawaiʻi Natural Energy Institute hosted the annual Energy Policy Forum at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. It was a gathering of energy professionals, elected leaders, students, advocates, and community- all eager to hear the focus of this year’s legislative session. It was the 20th anniversary of the legislative briefing which brought out major energy players like David Turk from the Department of Energy as a keynote speaker and hosted some critical discussions around addressing nationwide energy goals.

Since the legislature opened last week, we have been doing our best to monitor the flood of energy bills coming in. Some are encouraging on the energy equity and justice front and will send good energy (cheekiness intended) as they make it through the legislative hurdles. While we continue to compile a list of top bills we will track this session, open for a list of our priorities to ensure a just transition to an equitable clean energy economy.

Local: New Community Solar Projects Slated For Molokai Could Lower Bills

National: US emissions rose in 2022. Here’s why that’s not as bad as it sounds

Global: WoodMac wins: The consultancy giving cover to fossil fuel projects

Have you heard about the Hawaii State Capitol’s Public Access Room? If you would like to engage with the legislative session, or just learn more about civic engagement, the Public Access Room is a great place to start.

Watch - How to Save the Planet: Degrowth vs. Green Growth

Listen - The Energy Equity Project (EEP): a framework for measuring equity in policy and programs!

Local: Climate Change Experts Are Taking Notes from Indigenous Knowledge | Honolulu Civil Beat

Watch - “Why We Need to Go All in on Climate Justice”

Listen - Real Climate Solutions or False Promises? Here’s how to tell.

Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission Opens a Docket to Explore Energy Equity and Justice; Energy Justice Advocates Petition The Federal Trade Commission Investigation of Energy Utility Abuses; Controversial Inflation Reduction Act Passes- Historic Bill for Climate Action But Slippery Slope for Climate Justice; Indigenous Women Victorious Over Big Oil; Environmental Groups Release Roadmap to Accelerate Transmission Infrastructure; Los Angeles becomes the largest city to pass a new buildings electrification code

This definition is chosen as it relates to public and private initiatives for funding programming that attempts to target communities that suffer disproportionate economic, health, and environmental burdens.

We need to acknowledge that in dealing with climate change, the trade-offs often lead to negative consequences for communities that weren't involved in the decision of what would be traded away. How do we carry out the clean energy transition without making the mistakes of the past? Studied ambiguity is no longer an option. We can't afford the high social and environmental costs of cheap goods, cheap labor, and disposable ecosystems. This much is clear: There's no time left to trade away either justice or sustainability.

Vast quantities of minerals are needed to accelerate the transition to a clean energy future. Minerals and metals are essential for wind turbines, solar panels, and batteries for electric vehicles. But Indigenous peoples have raised concerns about more mining on their lands and territories.

Wild isn’t it? But when it comes to strategies for slowing the effects of climate change, the idea of reducing wasted energy rarely gets a mention. But a recent Nature Climate Change article makes the case that reducing wastage in the power sector, focusing specifically on the grid, can be a critical lever in lowering national emissions. Just another reason why creating localized distributed energy production systems is a smarter choice for implementing a climate resilient energy grid.

We are often struck by how many policymakers and utilities believe that doubling down on preserving the centralized system is the best way to repair the aging electric grid. Our energy justice campaign has long advocated for a new system that relies on more distributed energy resources spread across communities, but state commissions have lacked modeling tools that show the pathway for local energy resources, such as solar, batteries and geothermal, to benefit our electricity grid.

Global: Defying expectations, CO2 emissions from global fossil fuel combustion are set to grow in 2022 by only a fraction of last year’s big increase

National: The West’s biggest source of renewable energy depends on water. Will it survive the drought?

Local: Ige Makes Appointments To PUC, Cabinet Positions

$473 billion

A team of researchers sponsored by a coalition of solar professionals, called the Local Solar Roadmap, a study that looked at the holistic grid and incorporated local solar into grid and system planning. The model calculated a least-cost development plan for the grid.

Centralized Grid: “Centralized generation” refers to the large-scale generation of electricity at centralized facilities.

Distributive Energy: Distributed generation refers to a variety of technologies that generate electricity at or near where it will be used, such as solar panels and combined heat and power

Watch - Local Energy Action: Building and Equitable and Sustainable Future with Communities

Listen - Hip Hop Caucus Think 100%: The Coolest Show

Solar power creates a lot of jobs, more than any other type of energy (see how they compare here). But some types of solar projects create a lot more jobs than others. According to the Solar Foundation National Solar Jobs Census for 2020, small-scale solar projects, including residential, commercial, and community solar, supported a total of 124,594 jobs in 2020. Utility-scale installations only supported 30,017 jobs.

Localism, the emphasis on valuing and prioritizing local and small-scale phenomena, is growing globally and domestically. There has been recent growth of localist movements, in both high- and low-income countries, that has occurred against the backdrop of an increasingly globalized economy that is widely experienced as distant, “corporate,” exploitative, extractive, depersonalized, inequitable, and beyond local influence. There have been several localist movements across industries and sectors that challenge this economic paradigm. We will uncover energy production's contribution to this growing movement in the context of the climate crisis.

National:

Behind the blackout triggered by Hurricane Fiona is a long-embattled history of Puerto Rico’s weak and outdated electrical grid; Manchin ends pipeline push, easing path for spending bill; EPA Launches New Environmental Justice Office

Local:

Hawaiian Electric Buys Tree-Burning Biomass Generator; Larry Ellison Wants Off Lanai’s Electric Grid. That Could Be A Problem For Everyone Else

Kauaʻi Island Cooperative and AES global power corporation are planning to build a “pathbreaking” energy project that will provide 35 megawatts of utility scale solar and hydro power at a rate of $71.60 per megawatt-hour for 25 years. Due to the nature of the project, it will also require capacity payments of almost $9million per year. But apart from the economic costs, it is critical to take a step back and look at the impacts a project at this scale will have on streams and communities that depend on them.

Localism: (noun) The belief that services should be controlled and provided, or goods produced and bought, within a local area for the benefit of people in that area.

Halloween is just around the corner, which means big box stores will be full of costumes and holiday “fast fashion,” which are particularly energy intensive with an extremely high carbon footprint. Not to mention how wasteful and toxic these goods are when considering their full life-cycle.

Local Energy Rules podcast: Public Power Pt. 3

Ingredients For Success.: Cities want to provide affordable, reliable service to their residents, but for-profit electric utilities won’t give up their monopolies without a fight.

Have you heard of the Community Power Scorecard?

Every year, the Institute for Local Self-Reliance tracks and scores states based on how their policies help or hinder local clean energy action. The states that score the highest allow individuals and communities to take charge of their energy futures through things like shared renewable energy sources and customer-friendly net metering policies.

Is renewable energy a commodity or a commons? Often referred to as a (finite) natural resource that is available to all, renewable sources of energy (especially wind, sun, water) are clearly part of our natural commons: no one can claim their ownership and they belong to all. This is particularly important, as these are finite resources that require mindful production and conservation efforts.

Local: Hey Oʻahu, Your Electric Bill is About to Go Up

National: An Imperfect Bill Confronts A Perfect Storm

International: Mexico Sees Its Energy Future in Fossil Fuels, Not Renewables

In our main article, we discuss energy as a commons. But what is a commons? Generally, the term commons is used to refer to a broad set of resources, used and shared by many people. Originating from Medieval Europe to discuss the way communities managed land held “in common”, we often see the term used to discuss resource governance. Commons have evolved since Medieval Europe, and there are many different types…

Listen - Local Energy Rules Podcast, Episode 163: Public Power Part 1: Why take over?

Watch - Energy As A Common Good, produced during the first public meeting of the European Commons Assembly

As the urgency to mitigate and build resilience against climate destabilization ramps up, the transition to renewable energy is at the forefront (goodbye fossil fuels!). If you’re reading this newsletter, it’s likely you already know how we feel about this transition - make it clean and make it just. While this task seems daunting, there are so many ways in which we can shift our understanding of what clean, renewable energy can look like, reframe the transition, and create a just and clean energy system that serves everyone.

Local: Hawaii Sets New Emissions Targets as it Pursues Goal of 100% Renewable Energy by 2045

National: In a Twist, Old Coal Plants Help Deliver Renewable Power. Here’s How.

International: The European Union is facing an energy crisis.

A solutions framework recently developed by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to reframe how we consider working towards climate adaptation and mitigation. “The prospects for effective action improve when governments at all levels work with citizens, civil society, educational bodies and scientific institutions, the media, investors and businesses and form partnerships with traditionally marginalized groups, including women, youth, Indigenous Peoples, local communities and ethnic minorities. In such a societal setting, scientific, Indigenous and local knowledge and practical knowhow can come together to provide more relevant effective actions. In addition, different interests, values and worldviews can be reconciled if everyone works together.”

Listen - Indigenous Clean Energy: In Over My Head Podcast is an exploration of living off the grid to save the planet.

Watch - A conversation with Cody Two Bears and Shailene Woodley

On Monday, June 27 the Governor included SB2510 on his "Notice of Intent to Veto" list, commenting that he "could not find a single reason to support" this "misguided" measure. He now has until July 12 to follow through with an actual veto.

As usual, there is work to do to make sure SB2510 is gone for good. Now there are just a few weeks left to cross the finish line. Please join us in thanking the Governor for including this bill on his intent to veto list, and urging him to follow through by actually vetoing this problematic bill.

In order to best understand the relevance and applicability of this Feminist Energy Systems (FES) theory, we will highlight an excerpt from work done by our energy justice friends and sector professionals- Layla Kilolu, Sebastien Selarque, and Ryan Neville, aka Team Nēnē. Their graduate level, community-based research centered on FES' alternative methods and frameworks for “evaluating potential energy projects that could be incorporated in the procurement process to holistically evaluate projects, increase community representation, support Hawaiian culture, and ultimately build engagement in the procurement process.”

Local: Hu Honua Lobbyist Hosted Fundraiser for Bill
Officially – and as far as the public could tell from official disclosures – the sunset soiree was paid for by the candidate committees of four Hawaiʻi state senators: Donovan Dela Cruz, Glenn Wakai, Michelle Kidani and Bennette Misalucha.

National: Building a Resilient Indigenous Future with Sustainable Energy

​​Throughout Indigenous communities there is an abundance of renewable energy potential. Wind power alone has the potential to produce 190,000 megawatts of electricity, and solar energy potential is twenty times this amount! This wealth is an opportunity to step into a future that stands in stark contrast to the history of energy development within Indigenous nations.

$25.1 million— Price tag to put HECO’s power lines underground in Kapolei.

Hoʻopili Community residents in Kapolei are raising concerns about Hawaiian Electric’s latest power substation, which would host large steel overhead power lines through their community. Amongst the issues of having high voltage power as close as 50 feet from homes is the lack of transparency throughout the process.

The importance of indigenization is that it benefits everyone. We all gain a richer understanding of the world, especially of our specific location through awareness of Indigenous knowledge, perspectives, and values systems. In that way, indigenization also contributes to a more just world by creating intentionality behind shared understandings. It opens the pathway toward reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people. It also counters the impacts of colonization by upending a system of thinking that has discounted Indigenous knowledge and history needed today to build a truly sustainable resilient society.

In early June, the WCPSC Annual Education Conference was held in Wāikiki. It comes to Hawaiʻi every fourteen years, shoutout to Hawaiʻi PUC Commissioner Potter and her staff for hosting a successful event full of informative panels for energy professionals and advocates from all over the globe.

A very special guest to the event was energy justice icon and Director of the Office of Economic Impact and Diversity at the U.S. Department of Energy, the Shalanda Baker. She spoke on a panel about facilitating equity in the renewable energy transition to a room full of regulatory and energy professionals in the public and private sector.

Listen: Porcupine Podcast - Episode: Exploring Reconciliation through Clean Energy in Indigenous Communities.

Watch: The Laura Flanders Show: The Future of Energy is Indigenous

There is a Senate bill on Ige’s desk that changes state energy policy and could be a drastic step backward for our energy transition?

After 30 years since its first publication, 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. With hundreds of scientists and leaders from 195 countries around the world meticulously creating these reports, this acknowledgement is huge. Within this massive 3,600-page document, the IPCC informs how the world must engage Indigenous peoples and local communities if society is to have any chance at curbing the worst of climate destabilization.

During the waning days of the 2022 legislative session, a bill to protect coffee — one of the state’s most valuable cash crops — was alive by a thread. Sponsored by Rep. Nicole Lowen, a Big Island lawmaker who chairs the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, the original measure called for tightening labeling laws to ensure that coffee labeled as, say, Kona coffee, included at least 51% coffee grown there.

By the end of session the Senate had watered down Lowen’s bill to a measure calling for a study. And with House and Senate conference committee members at an impasse on April 28 — the day before all bills faced a pass-or-fail deadline — something unusual happened.

$1.2 Billion - Hawaiian Electric Light Company (HELCO) estimates the revenue requirements for the Hu Honua biomass facility on Hawaiʻi Island would exceed $1.2 billion over the 30-year term of the Power Purchase Agreement and would be collected from customers.

Fundamentally, decolonization is a principled process and daily practice of undoing colonialism- “cultural, psychological, and economic freedom” for Indigenous people with the goal of achieving Indigenous sovereignty — the right and ability of Indigenous people to practice self-determination over their land, cultures, and political and economic systems.

Listen: What Could Possibly Go Right? Conversations with Cultural Scouts Episode 79 with Stacy Mitchell

Watch: Ahupuaʻa Energy Systems & Building Local Power

This is not free advertising for Hawaiian Electric but there is a pretty cool program that helps get more solar energy on the Oʻahu energy grid that isn’t utility-scale solar farms that exacerbate land use tensions. We feel this is the kind of incentive program that our corporate investor-owned utility that is making consistent profits should be offering to get us to 100% renewable by 2045.

Expensive prices passed on to customers and long-term environmental impacts are among the major concerns Hawaii’s Consumer Advocate and others continue to have about Hu Honua, a proposed tree-burning power plant on the Big Island.

$45 Million –That is the amount that AES Mt. View Solar has been telling the community their hundred-acre solar farm will provide in “economic output” during their public consultation meetings. But such a large number surely deserves a breakdown explanation.

We have been a little obsessed with Just Transition lately. And for good reason. It has been several decades since the demand for a just transition for workers was introduced as a key goal in the efforts to tackle environmental degradation. To give some background, The Just Transition Alliance was founded in 1997 as a coalition of frontline workers from polluting industries and those that live on the fences of them to create healthy workplaces and communities.

AES Coal Plant to biomass facility? For some, this may seem like old news, and for others an on-going question. We are not sure of the latest status on this idea or potentially future initiative, but since it’s the holiday season, we felt the need to talk about coal and who's on Santa’s naughty list. Either way, all Oʻahu residents will sadly still be getting coal fired energy for another year until the forced closure in 2023.

The end of the year tends to hold a special place in all our hearts and minds. It is a time to reflect, give thanks, take time to be with our loved ones, and dream up what we want the next year to look like. 2021 was another roller coaster year and there are some definite highlights for energy justice.

The West Kauaʻi Energy Project includes two hydropower electric generation facilities, a pumping station, a 35-megawatt solar photovoltaic array, a 35-megawatt battery energy storage system, a 69-kilovolt substation, 1.5 miles of new transmission line, reconductoring one mile of existing transmission line, and installing approximately 2.65 miles of single mode fiber optic line along KIUC’s existing transmission system.

Total Revenues- Hawaiian Electric’s total revenue of $756.9 million in the third quarter improved 18% from the prior-year quarter’s $641.4 million. The uptick can be attributed to increased contributions from the Electric Utility segment.

Energy sovereignty is the right of conscious individuals, communities and indigenous peoples to make their own decisions on energy generation, distribution and consumption. It looks like enabling Indigenous communities to own and operate our own energy systems; to use renewable and locally available energy sources like wind and solar; and to stop burning fossil fuels and stop relying on corporations for energy.

For years these profit driven utilities have waged a relentless campaign to undermine the decentralized, justice-centered approach to energy generation and distribution. Giving up their power is not an easy thing to do. As the chart below shows, despite having over 11x’s more publicly owned not-for-profit utilities across the U.S, there are over four and half million more residents powered by a relative handful of investor owned utilities. It is clear that there is a concentration of power, literally and figuratively, shaping our energy system.

Growing a movement towards a justice-centered energy democracy with a system “for the people by the people'' requires many hearts, minds and hands coming together. Hawaiʻi is at the precipice of the transition away from fossil-fuel reliance and decision-makers are putting the pressure on Hawaiian Electric as 2022 approaches, making 2030 feel right around the corner. Since they are so far behind on their goals, it presents an opportunity for communities and energy professionals coming together to take power back from corporate control.

In September, the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission took the unusual step of ordering a solar farm developer and a community group to use mediation to resolve a bitter dispute over a planned project to power more than 11,500 homes. Advocates say the agreement between a renewable energy company and a community group in West Maui could be a model for resolving disputes.

Hawaiian Electric is seeking a $79 million major expansion of public EV charging network. “If approved by the PUC, Hawaiian Electric would look to install and operate approximately 150 single-port DC fast charging stations and 150 dual-port Level 2 charging stations at roughly 75 sites across the company’s service territory from 2023 through 2030. About 60% of the sites would be on Oahu, 20% in Maui County and 20% on Hawaii Island. This aims to serve about 28 percent of total public fast charging needs in 2030 to catalyze third party market participation while also serving a critical backbone of reliable charging for our community...Hawaiian Electric would recover the cost of the project from customers over the seven-year life of the project.”

Similar to last month’s word of the month, “Just Transition,” the energy democracy is more of a framework than a definitive term. It has evolved from a slogan used by activists demanding a meaningful voice in energy-related decision-making to a term used in policy documents and scholarly literature. Energy democracy shifts power, literally and figuratively, and is part of a worldwide movement led by working people, low-income communities, and communities of color aiming to take control of energy resources from the corporate energy establishment and use those resources to empower their communities.