‘Olelo, Senate put UH on the hot seat

For local political junkies or those in University of Hawaii inner circles, it’ll be the equivalent of Must-See TV.

At 1 p.m. Monday, ‘Olelo Community Media will live-broadcast the state Senate Special Committee on Accountability hearing into the University of Hawaii’s Stevie Wonder concert fiasco. ‘Olelo Channel 49 will air the hearing in its entirety, while online viewing will be available via www.olelo.org.

Good call, Olelo. UH’s "Wonder Blunder" caused $200,000 to go missing; the UH athletic director got reassigned to a new, unspecified $200,000-plus job in the UH-Manoa chancellor’s office; and there’s now a search for a new UH AD. All this has sparked more questions than answers — so far.

More solar power to the HECO grid

Hawaiian Electric Co., at last, is loosening up on its procedures for homeowners and small businesses that want to go green in their energy use, and save a little green over the long run.

The utility has been worried about the stability of the grid when intermittent power producers like solar photovoltaic panels are added into a circuit. In some cases, a costly study to confirm stability would be required.

But now the data show PV systems of 10 kilowatts or less are fairly predictable. Executives expect this policy change to free up 50 to 70 percent more capacity for solar.

HECO’s conventional customers might be worried that as energy users generate more of their own, it could be left to those who remain to pick up the slack, rate-wise.

On the whole, though, flipping this switch is a decision that’s welcome and long overdue. Let the sun shine in.