Hawaiian Electric wins renewable energy grant

HONOLULU — A team led by Hawaiian Electric has won a $500,000 federal grant to develop ways for utilities to manage increased amounts of solar power and other renewable energy on their electric grids.

The team includes the Sacramento Municipal Utility District and several companies, like Siemens and Alstom which are both leading providers of energy management systems. Honolulu-based Referentia Systems is providing secure information technology and data analytic capabilities.

Hawaiian Electric said Tuesday western U.S. utilities are already managing much higher percentages of variable energy like rooftop solar than many other utilities.

Hawaiian Electric says 11 percent of its Oahu customers have solar panels on their roofs.

The utility says the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot grant matches industry contributions.