NextEra deal nixed but HECO still looking forward to next era

Seven months ago, as I sat in a Blaisdell Center meeting room during the hearings on the NextEra Energy merger, the testimony was a constant reminder of how big our mission is to replace fossil fuels with renewable resources over the next 30 years.

And I thought that no matter the outcome of the merger, we needed to change our approach to working with all of the people who have a stake in this mission.

The word I’ve heard recently is “reset,” and I think it’s a good description of where we are at this moment.

To some people, resetting apparently means restarting the adversarial regulatory process that just concluded after 19 months, and to find someone, anyone, other than Hawaiian Electric to run the state’s three largest utilities.

I don’t think that’s what most people want. They want less drama and more results.

Let’s start by agreeing on the most basic assumption: that our company, our community and our government are committed to using renewable resources to generate 100 percent of Hawaii’s electricity by 2045.

No one is talking about resetting that goal. We have a viable plan for getting it done.

That shared mission gives Hawaii a tremendous advantage.

So among the things I’d like to reset are the assumptions about the Hawaiian Electric companies.

The merger hearings provided a stage for our detractors and competitors to roll out tired stereotypes and opinions about the slow, reactive, clueless utility.

Sure, we’ve made some mistakes. But the reality today is that we’re in the midst of the most fundamental transformation of our company in its 125-year history, work that was well underway before NextEra arrived.

We’re breaking down walls between departments, accelerating how we work, and focusing on innovation and efficiency to provide more choices and better service to our customers.

Our workforce is among the most diverse and experienced in the state, with accomplished professionals working alongside talented millennials.

We’re not the same Hawaiian Electric we were 19 months ago, and we sure aren’t the same company we were even a few years ago.

In less than a decade, we’ve gone from 9 percent to 23 percent renewable energy on the grid, well above the state’s 2015 goal. By 2020, we’ll be at 30 percent.

We’ve proposed an innovative community-solar program so everyone can receive the benefits of solar.

We’ve streamlined processes to get more than 77,000 rooftop solar systems approved, and we’re working with the solar industry to help provide new options for customers.

We support incentive-based ratemaking to align our performance with regulators’ targets and our customers’ needs.

We just announced a new partnership with the Navy to build a large solar project at Pearl Harbor to bolster the base’s resilience while providing low-cost electricity to all Oahu customers.

And we’re doing our own reset on fuel choices.

We’ve withdrawn our application for a liquefied natural gas contract because it required merger approval to go forward in the manner it was proposed.

But reducing the cost of electricity remains a key objective. Unlike the mainland, we’re an island grid without access to low-cost, always-available renewable choices like large-scale hydroelectricity.

We’re looking hard at all fuel choices with an emphasis on stabilizing prices and improving efficiency and reliability. And we want to be responsible stewards of our environment.

Simply put, Hawaiian Electric is doing more to transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy than just about any other utility in the U.S.

That transition presents enormous technical and financial challenges, and some daunting societal questions about how it works and who pays for it.

Hawaiian Electric is accountable. The buck stops with us.

To establish a space where we can all collaborate openly and honestly, others have to be accountable too, to commit to being problem solvers, not just problem finders.

Our mission is enormous. We don’t have to reset our goal, only our commitment to work together to get it done.

Alan M. Oshima is president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric Company.