KAILUA-KONA — Hawaiian Electric Companies submitted on Tuesday the final draft of its Grid Modernization Strategy for review by the state Public Utilities Commission.
KAILUA-KONA — Hawaiian Electric Companies submitted on Tuesday the final draft of its Grid Modernization Strategy for review by the state Public Utilities Commission.
The first phase of the statewide plan is a six-year, $205 million endeavor geared toward increasing grid capacity for the use of more renewable energy sources and improving the reliability of aging infrastructure through technological upgrades.
For most of its existence, the state’s electrical grid functioned as a one-way system, providing electricity from power plants to homes and businesses.
Since the advent of solar power and its boom in popularity across a state well-suited to produce a great deal of it, the grid now functions as a two-way system with energy flowing back and forth between the grid and private generators of solar energy.
According to a HECO release, Hawaii is now home to more than 80,000 privately owned rooftop solar systems. The increased production and use of solar energy is in line with the state’s goal of moving to 100 percent renewable energy by 2045, but the grid isn’t equipped for that as currently constructed.
Making sure it is equipped is both the primary catalyst and the primary goal of the modernization strategy. The plan will “…help to more than triple the amount of private rooftop solar,” according to the release.
“We have two-way flow (system) as it stands, but we’re becoming saturated,” HECO spokeswoman Shannon Tangonan told West Hawaii Today. “In some areas it’s saturated and we cannot have anymore PV. Just because of the nature of how the grid is currently, we can take only so much. What we’re embarking on now is a strategy to where the grid will be renewable ready.”
Tangonan said as of the end of 2016, renewable energy sources represented 54 percent of the energy used on Hawaii Island, up from 49 percent the year before. That is the highest rate in the state.
HECO’s release highlights a handful of what it refers to as “near-term” work, which if approved would take place over the next six years as part of the first phase of grid modernization.
The work includes strategic distribution of smart meters to customers like those using solar on saturated circuits or those who wish to take part in demand response programs that would, with customer permission, allow HECO companies to cut power to devices like water heaters during times of high power usage in exchange for lower rates.
The release also mentioned advanced inverter technology, which allows for more rooftop solar adoption, as well as more widespread use of voltage management tools “to maximize circuit capacities for private rooftop solar and other customer resources.”
Tangonan said beyond that, technological upgrades around outage management and notification will make the grid more resilient and allow operators to respond more quickly and efficiently to what HECO hopes will be fewer outages.
“You could fix or correct an outage remotely, that kind of stuff, where you don’t even have to dispatch anyone,” she said.
Tangonan added that while she was unaware of any components of the grid modernization strategy specific to cybersecurity, HECO has a robust department that addresses issues of cybersecurity on a daily basis to ensure the grid is protected from external threats.
Upgrades through the modernization won’t come at zero cost to the consumer. The final draft of the modernization strategy estimates the average bill impact of the $205 million plan on Hawaii Island customers at $2.07 per month over the first 10 years.
The PUC just more than a week ago approved Hawaiian Electric Light Company’s proposed 3.4 percent base-rate increase on Hawaii Island — the first such rate bump in more than six years. HELCO projected that rate increase will raise the average monthly bill for households by $4.98.
Tangonan emphasized the additional $2.07 rate hike imposed by the proposed plan is just an estimate and wouldn’t “come overnight.” There will also be options to mitigate higher bills, she said, such as participation in demand response programs.
And that increase isn’t yet set in stone, as the PUC still must approve the grid modernization strategy in its finalized form. Tangonan said the final draft wasn’t altered much based on a round of meetings that allowed for public comment, but that more information was added to clarify the chosen path forward.
The PUC put out a release Wednesday indicating there is still an opportunity for public comment. The 256-page final draft can be viewed via the HECO companies’ website at:
https://www.hawaiianelectric.com/Documents/about_us/investing_in_the_future/final_august_2017_grid_modernization_strategy.pdf
It is also filed in Docket No. 2017-0226, which can be accessed by way of the PUC’s Document Management System at https://dms.puc.hawaii.gov/dms/.
Written comments can be sent via email to puc.comments@hawaii.gov or physically mailed to the PUC at Public Utilities Commission, 465 South King Street, Room 103, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96813.