HAWAII’S F-I-T TO DRIVE NEW ENERGY

“Feed-in tariff” decision to open clean energy market; Public Utilities Commission adopts clean energy “feed-in tariff” to reduce barriers to clean energy development
Jeff Mikulina, September 28, 2009 (blue planet Foundation)

"…[Hawaii’s] Public Utilities Commission [PUC] could spawn new clean energy investment statewide through a price guarantee for electricity produced by sun, wind, and hydroelectric sources. Advocates for clean energy are encouraged about the decision—which lays the framework for the new policy but doesn‟t set specific rates for the purchase of clean power…[Q]uestions remain regarding the whether the policy will provide sufficient incentive to drive major new clean energy development…

"The [PUC] decision and order…is a statement of “general principles” on the shape of the feed-in tariff [FiT] program. The actual rate amounts will be determined by the Commission within the next few months."

click thru for complete Hawaii PUC decision (pdf)

"The Commission’s decision, noting that “there is no other state in the nation that is as dependent on oil as Hawaii is” and that oil is imported from “countries that may not be sympathetic to U.S. interests,” addresses some of the larger concerns that clean energy developers had in doing business in Hawai„i: the ability to secure access to the power grid and ensure a fair price for the power that they sold. The [feed-in tariff] will provide a set price and standard 20-year contract for “green” electricity. That means a solar company or a wind developer will know exactly what price they can sell electricity from their project. By providing transparent conditions and a “no haggle” price for clean energy, a feed-in tariff will enable renewable energy providers to more easily calculate whether their project will pencil out. For smaller projects, clean energy developers will no longer face costly and time-consuming individual contract negotiations with the utilities. Hawai„i will be one of the first states in the nation with such a progressive policy.

"Clean energy advocates, such as the Hawai„i Solar Energy Association, praised the Commission‟s decision…"

click thru for Paul Gipe's primers and presentations on the FiT

"…[T]he Commission adopted a policy that is much broader than the one envisioned by the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO)…[which] sought to limit the renewable energy project size of wind projects on O’ahu, for example, to 100 kilowatts, or one three-hundredth (1/300) the size of the Kaheawa wind farm currently operating on Maui. The Commission's decision sets project size limits of five megawatts for the island of O’ahu and 2.72 megawatts for Maui and Hawai'i island.

"…[C]lean energy advocates remain concerned about possible limitations imposed by the new policy…[such as] caps [on] the total amount of feed-in tariff projects brought onto the electricity grid at 5% of the system peak on O’ahu, Maui, and the Big Island for the first two years of the program…Many of Hawaii‟s clean energy advocates were promoting a more aggressive feed-in tariff—one similar to that enacted in Germany that doesn‟t have many of the limitations…Nearly forty places around the world, from Europe to Canada to Australia, have adopted similar feed-in tariffs, making feed-in tariffs among the most popular and successful policies ever for growing clean energy economies…Solar energy advocates in particular are pleased that the new feed-in tariff policy preserves the existing net energy metering incentive currently available…"