Kiosks will help residents track Oahu’s energy use

Oahu residents can check the community’s energy consumption as often as every half-hour with energy measuring tool Island Pulse.

The energy consumption tool from the Blue Planet Foundation and Hawaiian Electric Co. provides Oahu residents with the breakdown of the megawatts of energy used by the community as well as the source of the energy from renewables like solar and wind to other resources like coal and oil. The first Island Pulse kiosk was displayed at the Asia Pacific Clean Energy Summit and Expo at the Hawai‘i Convention Center from Monday through Wednesday.

Island Pulse was designed to help residents understand the collective use of energy on Oahu, said Catharine Lo, communications director for the Blue Planet Foundation.

"We wanted to make it as familiar to people as when you look at a thermometer to tell temperature or a clock to tell time," said Lo in an interview at the Clean Energy Summit.

Lo said that customer knowledge about energy consumption is necessary because of the key role that residents will play in future energy decisions.

"As these big decisions are being made, the ratepayers and the public need to have a better understanding of these different electricity concepts," Lo said. "Customers are going to be a much big player in this whole game." 

Island Pulse was made available online (www.islandpulse.org) in late July. The Blue Planet Foundation pro­jects that kiosks displaying the energy consumption dashboard in public locations will be launched in January. Lo said eight kiosks will be installed for public display at that time. Blue Planet Foundation said that the state Legislature and the University of Hawaii are key locations that are being considered.

"We are looking for high-traffic and high-visibility places," Lo said.

Created by Sudokrew, a data visualization company, Island Pulse highlights current energy use and trends islandwide.

"If you are not designing for the user every single time, you are not doing as good of a job as you can every single time," said Spencer To­yama, co-founder of Sudokrew.

The data that Sudokrew uses for Island Pulse come from HECO.  

"Within a few years, everyone who has a smart meter will be able to monitor their energy use through a customized Web portal and even control their appliances via their smartphones," HECO spokes­man Peter Rosegg said. "These will all take a new level of energy literacy and understanding by customers. Island Pulse will be a great way to start that learning."

Blue Planet Foundation said it plans to include breakdowns of community energy use in the second version of Island Pulse. This is to show customers how their neighborhood’s energy consumption compares with other areas on Oahu. Blue Planet hasn’t determined yet when its updated version will be released.

Energy consumption per person continues to decrease in Hawaii. The use of renewable generation increased to about 18 percent from about 14 percent of total generation in 2014, according to the State of Hawaii Energy Report Card released Monday by the Blue Planet Foundation.

Hawaii received an overall grade of C from the Blue Planet Foundation in the organization’s second annual energy report card. The 42-page report card graded the state based on its progress toward a target benchmark of energy independence by 2040.

The five major areas that are considered in the report card are transportation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, smart grid and economics. In the 2013 report card, Hawaii received an overall grade of C.

"It’s encouraging that Hawaii has made tangible progress that translates into lower electricity consumption and more integration of renewables," said Blue Planet Foundation Executive Director Jeff Miku­lina. "This snapshot in time allows us to see how policy and operational changes have affected our momentum, as well as how decisions we make today can impact what these trends will look like next year."