HECO at risk of going the way of dinosaurs

Imagine a future without fossil fuel power plants and transmission lines.

Some renewable energy advocates believe that in the very near future this will occur in Hawaii. After all, we have abundant sunshine, a thriving solar energy industry and the highest electric rates in the nation.

Solar energy is everywhere.

In 14 1⁄2 seconds, the sun provides as much energy to Earth as humanity uses in a single day. In 88 minutes, the sun provides as much energy as humanity consumes in a year. In 112 hours — less than five days — the sun provides as much energy as is contained in all proven reserves of oil, coal and natural gas on the planet.

If humanity could capture one-tenth of 1 percent of the solar energy striking the Earth — one part in one thousand — we would have access to six times as much energy as we consume in all forms today.

The National Renewable Energy Laboratory of the U.S. Department of Energy (NREL) notes that solar photovoltaic prices have been trending downward since 1980. In just three decades, there has been a seven-fold drop in the prices. NREL also estimates that rooftop PV cells may soon rival coal and natural gas in total cost per kilowatt.

Virtually all grid-connected electric generators in Hawaii are photovoltaic (solar electric) systems. This includes more than 3,500 net-metered systems. Less than 3 percent of all grid-connected power plants in Hawaii generate their electricity from fossil fuel, biofuel, geothermal and/or wind.

Most Hawaii households have at least one lithium battery. They are found in pacemakers, cell phones, cordless tools, MP3 players and portable computers and tablets. Lithium batteries are being tested in electric vehicles, hybrid electric vehicles and residential energy storage systems.

Following the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, the Japan-based multinational electronics and ceramics manufacturer, Kyocera Corp., released a solar energy management system that includes lithium-ion batteries.

The Sacramento Municipal Utility District in California is testing individual and communal (multi-home) lithium-ion batteries. In 2010, Underwriters Laboratories (UL) developed its safety standard for stationary storage batteries that contain lithium-ion rechargeable batteries. In 2012, a Sony lithium-based energy storage system received UL accreditation. In 2012, Panasonic began mass producing and marketing home energy storage systems.

World-wide lithium reserves are 13 million metric tons, which, at the current level of demand, could supply the world for 300 years. The leading producers are Chile (37 percent), Australia (33 percent), China (15 percent) and Argentina (9 percent).

In February 2012, Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. (HEI) filed its annual 10-K Report with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, noting this: "New technological developments, such as the commercial development of energy storage, may render the operations of HEI’s electric utility subsidiaries less competitive or outdated."

HEI is aware of the threat. It needs to also see it as an opportunity. It needs to move away from generation and transmission, and toward facilitating a new energy paradigm focusing on on-site generation and on-site storage.