Some people can remember when global warming was just a rumor, and clean energy a fad.

No more: Relentless climate change has forced the issue, especially for vulnerable island communities like Hawaii, which adopted a mandate for a 100% renewable energy portfolio by 2045.

Hawaii’s plan, one of the most ambitious in the country, will require a fundamental restructuring of the systems and technology that keep the lights on. Central to guiding this change is the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission and its new chairman, James Griffin, who took the helm in January. Overall, the PUC regulates more than 1,700 entities, including public utilities that provide electricity, gas, telecommunications, private water and sewage, and motor and water carrier transportation services.

Today’s PUC is expected to expand on the work of Griffin’s predecessor, Randy Iwase, who ramped up the focus on renewable energy and guided the commission through one of its most tumultuous dockets: the proposed merger of Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. with Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc., a deal the PUC ultimately rejected.

To meet the challenge, the PUC intends to upgrade its obsolete document management system, which was criticized in an audit last year. The PUC also has beefed up its staff, from about 33 people in 2012, when Griffin joined the PUC as chief of policy and research, to about 60 today. And the commission itself is finally at full strength: On May 1, Leo Asuncion joined Griffin and Jennifer Potter on the three-member panel.

In the meantime, the PUC appears to be on a fast track. It recently approved six grid-scale solar projects with battery storage, on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island. It approved special lower time-of-use rates for charging electric buses, and backed the Legislature’s plans to offer rebates through 2021 for installing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations, as well as the adoption of appliance efficiency standards.

The agency approved the first phase of Hawaiian Electric’s grid modernization plan, while pushing for more renewable energy options in the utility’s plans to replace the AES coal-fired power plant in West Oahu and the oil-fired plant in Kahului. And the PUC is moving to adopt a performance-based regulatory scheme for electric utilities, a major change. Other projects have hit snags. Earlier this month, the Hawaii Supreme Court rejected a PUC-approved biomass power agreement in East Hawaii. And in a May 9 letter, the PUC informed that island’s geothermal plant operator that it will require commission approval and a public hearing for new transmission lines that would replace those destroyed by last year’s Kilauea eruption.

A native of upstate New York, Griffin, 44, moved in 2000 to Kauai, a more welcome location for an outdoors and ocean enthusiast. He now lives in Waialua with his wife and 4-year-old daughter, and commutes to work in an EV. Since the drive uses about three-quarters of the battery charge, Griffin has a keen appreciation for the challenges of going green.

“Basically I need to refill it every night to feel comfortable,” he said.

Question: Why did you take this job?

Answer: If you look at my background, I’ve been in policy, I’ve been an energy analyst. For someone with that background, this is the opportunity of a lifetime. It’s very challenging, but it’s incredibly rewarding. You can see the direct impact of your actions, changing the marketplace. … We’re all trying to do it in a way that’s beneficial to the state and the people of Hawaii.

Q: Are you happy with the Legislature’s bill regulating energy efficiency for certain appliances, based on California standards?

A: The final version that passed was almost exactly the version that we had offered support for in our testimony and worked with some of the other stakeholders to develop. We’re comfortable with the version that passed. Half of it has a clear role for the commission, particularly through our third-party contractor, Hawaii Energy.

Q: How about the rebates for installing EV charging stations? Will a limit of $500,000 be enough?

A: It’s a good starting point because it will also build on a rebate program that was just started with Hawaii Energy and Ulupono Initiative; that helped inform some of the numbers that went into the legislation. We’re going to work with Hawaii Energy on implementation. It’s important to get it started on the right foot rather than having a huge amount of money sitting there for a long time.

Q: What about electric buses?

A: That’s exciting. I now see the new JTB electric buses driving by our office. We approved a pilot program from the Hawaiian Electric companies … it’s for pilot rates for electric bus charging. These operators are going to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure at their baseyards. What the pilot rates offer are discounts between two time periods — daytime and the late evening. These are time periods when it costs less to produce electricity and so they’re trying to offer that lower-cost electricity to the bus charging. That helps the numbers pencil out for the purchasing of the buses.

Q: How will this apply to public bus systems?

A: This is available for up to 20 accounts throughout the state. … (Counties) are in the process now of purchasing electric buses, so they have to go through their own budgeting cycle and get approval from the county council. So this helps on the front end, it helps them justify those investments. We’ll see what the experience is. This is intended to support the beginning of the transition of bus fleets and … we’ll look at how it will make sense to expand it.

Q: You expressed concern about Hawaiian Electric’s initial proposal to close the AES coal plant on Oahu. What’s the status?

A: There’s been positive progress. They’ve significantly expanded the amount of renewable energy they plan to go out to bid for on Oahu and Maui, which was one of our major concerns. And then, one of the other things we had raised was to make sure that all of the islands are included in the scope of this. The earlier version had left out the islands of Molokai and Lanai, which we were very concerned about. They’ve included it now. Those are all positive improvements.

Q: Can you explain the PUC’s push for performance-based regulation?

A: We’re looking at how we update the regulatory framework for our electric utilities. We’re asking them to become modern, 21st century utilities, and that entails a lot of changes to their operations, and we’re revisiting how we regulate them. The regulatory model is well over a century old; that’s the broadest way to look at it. Traditionally it was about providing safe, reliable service at affordable rates. Now we’re asking (the utilities) to lower carbon emissions, support electric transportation, become resilient to storms — lots of new asks and demands while not trying to sacrifice the core bread and butter. We still want the lights to go on. We want to be able to afford the service that’s provided.

We’ve spent a year doing stakeholder meetings and getting briefings. In the very near term, the commission will be issuing its decision on the first part of this — how to adjust the regulatory framework — and then spend the next phase of this working through all the details. We want to be thoughtful, deliberative and take some time in making sure we do it right.

Q: What is the status of community solar projects in Hawaii?

A: There’s one project that looks like it should come online by the end of this year. The other ones have slipped into next year, which we’re concerned about and we’re looking to address.

If you look at these programs in other states, even the biggest ones started slow and had problems.

But the other area where there’s been a very interesting dynamic and progress is on Molokai. There are a couple of local community groups that have partnered with developers and I think that partnership has helped with the outreach to the community. That’s a potential model that others can learn from.

Q: What do you want the public to know about the PUC?

A: We have a new team here, but it’s an incredibly dedicated team. We’re committed to helping move the state forward toward its renewable energy goals, but do it in a way that’s affordable, reliable and respects the community. You’ll find that dedication from the top to the bottom through the organization, and we’re really proud to get to do it.