In with the “new” in 2020

by Shannon Tangonan | Dec. 31, 2019

I blinked and 2019 was done, gone, history. It’s as if we just celebrated New Year’s 2019, and here we are ringing in a new year — even a new decade.

There were some great moments for Hawaiian Electric in 2019. One major highlight: Utility Dive named Hawaiian Electric Company its 2019 Utility of the Year.

Utility Dive named Hawaiian Electric its 2019 Utility of the Year. Check out some of our 2019 highlights.

Utility Dive, a leading energy industry publication, wrote: “Hawaiian Electric is advancing across a range of issues transforming the power sector, from renewables to electric vehicles to new business models. Among U.S. utilities today, ‘Hawaiian Electric stands out; they’re beyond the bleeding edge,’ Patty Cook, senior vice president with ICF’s commercial energy practice, told Utility Dive this fall.”

Pretty cool stuff.

We launched our West Loch Solar Project in November, which added 20-MW to our grid. The project is producing the lowest-cost renewable energy to date in the state at an estimated 7.5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

For those who say we aren’t making enough progress on renewables, coming on the grid in 2019 were 110 megawatts (MW)of Clearway solar projects on Oahu and the 20-MW Hawaiian Electric-owned West Loch Solar Project on U.S. Navy land in Ewa Beach, providing the lowest priced renewable electricity in the state.

On Hawaii Island, the 38-MW Puna Geothermal Venture plant is expected to be back in service in 2020, with lower prices for Big Island customers. Hu Honua, the planned 22-MW biomass plant under construction at Pepeekeo, is still moving through the regulatory process.

As a company, Hawaiian Electric is ushering in a new era. As we enter 2020, Hawaii Electric Light, Maui Electric and Hawaiian Electric will complete the transition into one, customer-focused, highly efficient, innovative company known as Hawaiian Electric.

In 2020, Hawaiian Electric will be led by a new president and CEO, Scott Seu, who wants Hawaiian Electric to be recognized as the most progressive and high-performing energy company in the world, putting the greater good of Hawaii first as we build a strong, resilient, decarbonized energy system.

So how do we do that? For starters, in May 2020, projects chosen in Hawaiian Electric’s latest pursuit of the solar equivalent of 900 MWs of new renewables, energy storage and essential grid services will be announced. In addition, the first of eight renewable-plus-storage projects, totaling 260 MWs, will be under construction in 2020 or in early 2021.

Rooftop solar is expected to grow. Large community solar projects will become available to those who cannot add solar to their homes.

Rooftop solar should continue to grow at about the 2019 pace — 41 MWs from 3,300 systems — and it’s anticipated a larger round of community solar projects will become available to those who cannot add solar to their homes, including many low- and middle-income customers.

We expect 2020 to end with 30 percent of electricity used by customers coming from renewable resources. If everything falls into place with new projects, we expect to be at about 50 percent by the end of 2022.

Seu, our incoming president & CEO, is ready to lead Hawaiian Electric into the next decade: “It’s about getting things done with urgency to modernize our electric system and our company, and not leaving the tough work for future generations.”

Watch the video to see our achievements and milestones from 2019.

Shannon Tangonan is a manager of external corporate communications at Hawaiian Electric Company.