Governor David Ige on Monday signed into law four bills he
says will advance Hawaii's position as a leader in renewable energy.
House Bill 623, one of the measures signed into law by
Governor Ige, focuses on what's being called the most aggressive clean energy
goal in the country: Hawaii seeks to become completely energy self-sustaining,
using 100 percent renewable sources, by 2045.
"As the most oil dependent state in the nation, Hawaii
spends roughly $5 billion a year on foreign oil to meet its energy needs,"
Governor Ige said. "Making the transition to renewable, indigenous
resources for power generation will allow us to keep more of that money at
home, thereby improving our economy, environment and energy security."
The law greatly expands the state's previous mandate of
being 70 percent self-sustaining by 2030. Legislators say the law was passed,
in part, to help eliminate Hawaii's high-priced reliance on oil, more than 40
million barrels of which are imported every year for energy production alone.
Sustainable energy advocates say law will help Hawaii
transition from being the most oil dependent state in the U.S. to one of the greenest.
"100% clean energy. No more importing fossil
fuels," said Richard Wallsgrove, the program director for the Blue Planet
Foundation. "No more paying for that through the nose when the price goes
up, no more inflicting environmental damage around the world on climate, on
ground water, and on those sorts of things."
Hawaii is the first state in the country to set such an
ambitious target, though officials say achieving it will require considerable
effort.
"It's not going to be easy. It's going to require
sacrifices," said Randy Iwase, Chair of the Hawaii Public Utilities
Commission. "It's going to be asking a lot of communities where solar
farms are located, wind farms are located, geothermal production is located,
that these are important for us if we're going to move forward toward that
goal."
Despite the challenges, it's a goal that is attainable with
the cooperation of all key players, including the state's energy utility, which
supports the legislation.
"The great thing about what the state has done to help
set this up is a regulatory principle called de-coupling," said Jim
Alberts, Senior Vice President of Customer Service for the Hawaiian Electric
Company. "We no longer earn based on the energy that we sell. It's a
function of the investments that we make, so for us, we're really in this just
as much as everybody else."
"The law sets benchmarks that require the state to be
at 30 percent renewable within five years, and 70 percent renewable by 2040.
Clean energy advocates say the law revolutionizes clean energy initiatives.
"It's going to be a filter on all kinds of energy
policy making decisions from the government, from utilities and from
consumers," said Mark Duda, Hawaii P.V. Coalition President. "Until
we actually reach this goal, it's going to start eliminating bad choices
quickly and drive everything towards these good choices."
Hawaii residents typically pay between two and three times
the national average for electricity, but officials believe the addition of new
renewable energy resources will help stimulate price decreases, reducing the
state's reliance on the more than $4 billion spent annually on imported oil.
In addition to the 100 percent renewable energy measure,
Governor Ige also signed into law measures that provide for community-based renewable
energy farms and set net-zero energy goals for the University of Hawaii System.
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