Consumer Advocacy – Public Utilities (DCA)

Hawaiian Electric will share and address community input received on its draft request for proposals (RFP) seeking a potential variety of renewable energy projects during a virtual community meeting on Tuesday, July 12, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Participants can join via Microsoft Teams at hawaiianelectric.com/communitymeetings, Hawaiian Electric’s Facebook page, or tune in to ‘Ōlelo 49. The meeting will be recorded. Participants are encouraged to ask questions and provide feedback during the meeting. Questions can also be sent in advance to [email protected].

In May, Hawaiian Electric submitted the draft RFP for at least 475 gigawatt hours annually of renewable dispatchable energy to be in service by 2027. Hawaiian Electric also seeks to acquire 300 to 500 megawatts of renewable firm capacity on O‘ahu to be in service by 2029, and 200 megawatts of renewable firm capacity to be in service by 2033. The company also hosted an O‘ahu community meeting in May to review and collect community comments on the draft RFP. This meeting can be viewed at hawaiianelectric.com/communitymeetings.

Once the draft RFP is approved by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), the company will seek proposals as part of a competitive-bidding process for a wide array of renewable energy and capacity resources on O‘ahu that includes but is not limited to wind, solar, biomass and biofuels. Standalone energy storage proposals will also be accepted.

This draft RFP is the first to procure firm renewable capacity to broaden and ensure O‘ahu has a diverse future mix of generation resources. Unlike variable renewables, such as solar and wind, firm renewable energy is available on demand at all times. In 2018, Hawaiian Electric began the first phase of Hawai‘i’s largest procurement for renewable energy resources to meet the state’s 100% renewable portfolio standard requirement. The second phase of procurement started in 2019 and was among the largest single renewable energy procurements undertaken by a U.S. utility. From those first two phases of RFPs, nearly 240 megawatts of variable renewable energy and roughly 1 gigawatt hours per year of energy storage are in development and expected to be in service by 2024 on O‘ahu.

Upon approval from the PUC, this third stage of renewable energy procurement will be open to bids from energy developers locally and globally. Pending approval by the PUC, the first projects are expected to come online no later than the end of 2027.