Focus Areas

Hawaii Energy Policy Forum > Meetings > September 26, 2007

Wednesday September 26, 2007
Hawaii State Capitol Room 325
10 am – 1 pm
Summary Notes

In Attendance: Members: Al Chee, Amy Asselbaye (for Congressman Neil Abercrombie), Carl Freedman, Carl Takamura (for Congresswoman Mazie Hirono), Glenn Sato, Mark Glick, Maurice Kaya, Melissa Pavlicek, Mike Kitamura (for Senator Daniel Akaka), Mitch Ewan, Paula Helfrich, Peter Rosegg, Rick Rocheleau, Riley Saito, Dan Kalili (for Rep Hermina Morita), Carlton Saito (for Senator Ron Menor), Sharon Miyashiro, Steve Meder, Stephen Rymsha, Tim O’Connell, Warren Bollmeier.  HEPF Staff/Consultant: Chelsea Phlegar, Susan Char.  Guests: Paul Bernstein, Meja Kaniho, Kevin Katsura, Kekoa Kaluhiwa, John Tantlinger

I.  Action Plan Updates

• Action Plan updates are today’s primary business

• Need to focus on initiatives for the upcoming legislative session

1. Energy Efficiency Action Plan – Co-chair Stephen Meder presented the plan.  Comments follow and will be addressed in the final plan.

• Goals centered on UH Manoa. What about the other campuses?

  • Chancellor Konan set the standards, and her jurisdiction is UH Manoa. Will check with Sam Callejo, UH System Office, to see if anything is being done on the other campuses

  • HECO and UH Manoa agreement—If other campuses want to step forward, HECO would be willing to talk and provide services and enter into an agreement

• West Oahu—perfect example of being more comprehensive and aggressive because of a new project. West Hawaii is trying to go beyond and is a pocket of excellence, need to find ways to support that as a group; DBEDT is helping out, the Forum can get involved.

• Continuing to invest in training and education to ensure good models are followed is very important

• Need to continue to make investments, but it is hard

• Are all the buildings listed in the plan state buildings?

• Issues beyond buildings should be explored:

  • Utility DSM energy efficiency programs
                --3rd party administrator
                --Regulatory group?
                --What is the Forum’s role?

• Amend the first goal in the EE plan to delete “in state buildings” so that the charge of the plan is broader, i.e., “To improve wide-spread energy efficiency”

• Act 254

  • Focus on ground transportation

  • Will fill out transportation section of EE plan

  • The Energy Efficiency Transportation Working Group has hired a consultant (Parsons Brinckerhoff Strategic Consulting)

  • Next step is to find strategies to address fuel consumption, how to be more efficient in transportation, develop long term benchmarks

  • Check on vehicle fleet purchase policy by counties re: energy efficiency

  • Check on including Hawaii Bicycling League in WG discussions

2.  Hydrocarbon Futures: Defer to next meeting

• DBEDT addressed two actions relating to Hawaii’s oil supply and the strategic petroleum reserve, and will send in written comments:

(1)  Updating forecast of oil supply.  Need more specificity of what to include in the forecast; depends on what markets provide, price and other factors, what will run, output requirements

• Difficult to understand what kind of forecast is being described, requires additional specificity

(2) Support initiatives re: Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR)

• to what extent is the WG aware of the details of access provisions?

• What practical advantages would physical wet barrel reserve in Hawaii provide that existing provisions don’t?

• Is WG aware of any particular Congressional delegation initiatives and funding? If so, DBEDT would like to know.     

• Recommend replacing “support” with “consider” or “explore”

• Needs to be vetted by GM members before we pursue with Congressional delegation

3.  Social and Cultural Impacts Action Plan

• HEPF/HECO/Malama HI Ocean Energy Stakeholders

• •  Develop protocol for ocean energy providers, eventually a model for other efforts

  • Should be put in as an accomplishment for action plan

  •  Will add this report to the HEPF website when it is ready

• Does OHA give grants/loans to Native Hawaiians for energy projects?

  • Yes, for business purposes, education, home improvements. Maximum amount is $75,000 with 5% interest

  • Eligibility: Native Hawaiian ancestry; 100% Native Hawaiian owned firm (but will seek to amend this to 50% or greater)

4.  Greenhouse Gas Emissions Action Plan: Defer to next meeting

5.  Communication and Outreach Action Plan: Defer to next meeting

• A lot of this WG’s role is responsive to the other WGs; it has provided support for briefings eg the latest one with US DOE on commercialization of renewable energy technologies and last year on the Energy Efficiency Executive Briefing

• Go Green

  • Will have to push back production to next year (no sooner than December)

  • This gives the Forum time to address concerns about content and budget

  • Will get Co-chair Bill Kaneko and HEPF involved

  • A “call to action” is very important to include

• Policies that promote energy conservation, renewable energy

• Some Forum members may be tapped to utilize their expertise

6.  Renewable Energy Action Plan

• Goal #1: Want to consider beyond 20% RPS

  • Are we doing enough fast enough?

  • Problem with island-specific targets may not be most constructive. Is there an economic reason for making it island specific? Seems inefficient, why additional constraints?

  • HEPF could look at policy, value of aggregation, rectify imbalance that results

  • Try to get the state to do enterprise zones for ocean energy. Try to get the state to add to it rather than moving artificial numbers around

  • Amend by moving RE targets (3d goal) from a “goal” to an “action”

• What about waste to energy under biomass? Is it in the action plan?

  • Potential is incentive for more on all four major islands

  • Articulate those 100 MW plans in the Action Plan

  • Problem of incentive for production: Land and water incentives would be great. This would be an outcome of the Bio-Energy Master Plan.

II.  Presentation:  Report on Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) Renewable Energy Projects and Update on the RPS Study, Rick Rocheleau, Director, HNEI

• Is there an RPS timeline?

• PUC report to the Legislature is targeted for December 2008

• HNEI will report to PUC in September/October 2008

• Slides will be made available on HEPF public website.

III.  HEPF Legislative Proposals

• A list of proposals developed by the Steering Committee was distributed.  Members were asked to contact the appropriate Working Group chairs if interested in any of the proposals or if they have ideas on any other proposals.

  • Important to get concepts for bills circulated so we can begin early to draft bill language that General Membership can review BEFORE 2008 session

• REWG proposal re: Resolution requesting PUC to investigate the feasibility of increasing the RPS percentage goal (the HNEI work in Act 95 would contribute to the PUC investigation)

  • Will talk with PUC, put on hold until further information because it looks like HNEI already charged to do this work.
    All members, please send legislation with justification and some language ASAP

• RR-- Need to look at how to support DBEDT

• HEPF-- Need to frame outreach and get more funding

• Once bills have been vetted and approved, these will be shared with Energy Committee Chairs

IV. Vetting Process/Mechanism:

The HEPF vetting website <www.hepf.org> is being upgraded.  It will have a new version up and running in a few weeks for vetting of final action plans and legislative proposals.  Information will be sent out via email.

V. Adjournment

The meeting was adjourned at approximately 1:00 p.m.

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