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Gov. David Ige said Friday, after looking at the filings in the NextEra Energy Inc. case, that he remains opposed to the company’s planned $4.3 billion purchase of Hawaii’s largest electrical utility.
“I reviewed all of the documents, (and) I still believe that the proposed merger was not in the best interest of the public,” Ige said in an interview at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser offices at Waterfront Plaza.
Ige said a major factor when considering NextEra as the owner of Hawaiian Electric Industries is whether NextEra is the best partner to get the state to its goal of generating 100 percent of its electric power from renewable sources by 2045.
“What we would like is a partner that is truly committed, not only to the goal of 100 percent. You have to realize and recognize that a utility that is 100 percent renewable is unlike any utility in the country,” Ige said. “You want management and leadership that truly embraces that challenge.”
Ige said the location of the leadership of the newly formed company under NextEra’s ownership is another concern. NextEra is based in Juno Beach, Fla.
“At least the leadership in HECO (Hawaiian Electric Cos.) is here,” Ige said.
Ige first came out in opposition to the sale in July.
As he spoke Friday the state Public Utilities Commission was holding hearings on the proposed sale.
In preparation for those hearings, NextEra filed 60,000 pages of documents, and about 5 percent, or 3,000 pages, of those were marked confidential.
Ige said the number of confidential documents submitted was one disappointment he had with NextEra.
“I was disappointed that the applicants were not more forthcoming,” Ige said. “How can people evaluate whether it makes sense when they negotiate these things in private?”
The PUC has twice closed its hearings to the public — once when NextEra Energy Hawaii President Eric Gleason was answering questions and once when Hawaiian Electric CEO Alan Oshima testified. Both closed-door sessions lasted about 30 minutes.
Ige also commented on a recent PUC decision to end a popular incentive program for rooftop solar. He said he agreed with the decision because the large number of rooftop solar systems can pose a problem for the grid.
“If rooftop solar is saturated and we don’t solve the storage challenge, then we will really start to get to instability in the grid,” Ige said.
HECO replaced a net energy metering program, which gave solar owners credit at retail rates for power sent into the grid, with two programs known as grid-supply and self-supply. Through grid-supply, customers are credited approximately 15 cents per kilowatt-hour for the excess energy their systems send to the grid. Under NEM, customers were credited 24.4 cents per kilowatt-hour last month. Grid-supply has a minimum charge of $25, while NEM has a minimum of $17. The grid-supply program also has a cap of approximately 4,500 residential systems.
Ige said that cap could change once energy storage becomes cheaper.
“The key to 100 percent renewable is storage,” he said.
Friday was the ninth day of the PUC’s 12 scheduled days of hearings on the NextEra sale. At the hearings, government agencies, energy companies and environmental groups are questioning NextEra and HEI officials about the sale. PUC approval is needed for the sale to go through.
On Friday John Reed, chairman and CEO of Concentric Energy Advisors, who consults on electrical utility mergers, testified at the Neal S. Blaisdell Center.
The hearings will resume Monday with more testimony from Reed. They conclude Wednesday. PUC Chairman Randy Iwase has said the hearings will likely be extended into January and possibly February. A live cablecast of the 9:30 a.m.-to-5 p.m. hearings can be viewed on ‘Olelo 49.
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