Editorial: Power players reset energy pact

The pending retirement of AES Hawaii’s 180-megawatt coal plant, mandated by state law, looked like a win-win for Hawaii: a big, antiquated fossil-fuel-fired facility shut down, replaced with clean, renewable energy at a comparable cost.

The reality is more complicated and less satisfying. Moreover, an unusually harsh war of words between the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and Hawaiian Electric highlighted the difficulties ahead for the state’s goal of reaching 100% renewable energy generation by 2045.

To make up for the loss of AES-generated power — about 20% of Oahu’s supply — Hawaiian Electric intends to install a new 185-MW lithium- ion battery project with 565 megawatt-hours of storage on industrial land in Kapolei. The Kapolei Energy Storage (KES) project, to be completed in June 2022, would provide reliable backup energy to the grid and, in the long run, save customers money and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

But here’s the catch: In the near term at least, the big battery is expected to be charged primarily with fossil fuels like oil, which costs a lot more than coal or renewables — two to three times more, by some estimates.

In fact, yearlong delays in a number of Hawaiian Electric’s big solar energy/battery storage projects could force the company to open the spigot on oil temporarily to make up for the loss of coal.

All this has left the PUC and its chairman, James Griffin, fuming.

“Every single project and program that runs through this department is stuck in the slow lane,” Griffin said during a status conference on KES in March. “Every single one.”

His frustration is understandable. The PUC is charged with ensuring that Hawaiian Electric operates in the public interest: providing clean, reliable, efficient energy at the lowest possible cost to the consumer. Griffin described a utility that doesn’t seem to concerned about the delays.

“I don’t see a single ounce of urgency,” Griffin said. “It’s our job to figure this out, to figure out all the details. … You gotta work with us on this.”

Subsequently, Hawaiian Electric executives promised to work to accelerate the renewable energy projects. And this week, the PUC agreed to modify some of the strict conditions it had placed on approval of the KES project.

Hawaiian Electric said it will review the modifications, and noted, “It appears the commission’s order addresses most of Hawaiian Electric’s concerns regarding conditions imposed by the PUC.”

That’s fine. But in turn, Hawaiian Electric cannot fail to address the PUC’s concerns promptly and in good faith. Otherwise, Hawaii’s conversion to renewable energy will just be more difficult.