Make room for community solar

The directive is clear: Hawaii has set its sights on shifting to an all-renewable-energy economy. People have raced to be part of it — largely, to photovoltaic (PV) solar systems, to reap the rewards of lower electric bills.

But a lot more people have been sitting on the sidelines: those without the money up front to afford such a system, or without a rooftop on which to install it. The mission that this state must embrace and see to fruition is to enlist more of Hawaii’s population in the green-energy revolution.

Community solar, known officially here as Community Based Renewable Energy (CBRE), is seen nationally and locally as the bridge for this untapped market.

It’s essentially a scheme in which the electrical output from a PV array or “solar farm” is divided among and credited to multiple subscribers or owners. These could be renters, condominium owners or anyone who otherwise can’t tap solar energy through an individual system.

Two years ago the state Legislature passed the law enabling CBRE to be established, and the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has drafted and redrafted the framework that would support the development and the public investment in solar arrays.

The PUC has been hearing from various interest groups on the proposal, in preparation for issuing an order and laying out the basic parameters for a community solar program.

The details are still being worked out, but it’s currently taking shape as a rollout that will start with an enrollment of roughly 7,000-8,000 households. The utilities would have to set the “tariff,” or rates for participation in the program, before enrollment could begin, so the whole process is likely to require a year or more.

It might take longer than that, in fact. Hawaiian Electric Co. and Kauai Island Utility Cooperative both have registered concerns about the proposal, asserting that it is not in the public interest. HECO, in fact, has said it would file a legal challenge if compelled to implement the program as currently drafted.

To some extent, their worries are echoed by the state Office of Consumer Advocacy. According to a filing in response to the current CBRE draft, the Consumer Advocate continues to support the intent of a community solar program.

However, the office added that “additional questions and concerns have arisen regarding whether the resulting CBRE program will reflect an appropriate balance of consumers’ and system needs.”

In essence, the worry is that, until the utility sets the tariff, it’s impossible to gauge consumer interest, or the interest of developers in building the solar farms. There are questions about grid stability with the addition of green energy, and about the sustainability of the program.

There is some reason for caution, as critics have pointed out: The Green Energy Market Securitization program, enacted the same year as community solar, has not worked out as a loan bridge for lower-income families to get solar.

But it does seem that the PUC is consulting a full range of expertise, reviewing experiences in other markets where this has been tried and is applying its due diligence.

The current plan is to roll out the program in a phased way. Randy Iwase, chairman of the PUC, said his agency is aware of the potential problems with supply and demand, and the imperative to go slow enough to evaluate how to proceed while protecting the power grid.

But he said the imperative to push ahead is even stronger.

“It’s critical to increasing the number of participants in renewable energy,” he said — and he’s right. If the state intends to meet its green-energy targets, programs do need to be designed to accommodate people of a wide income range. Bold steps are needed, bold steps such as community solar enables Hawaii to take.