Author: Amanda Ho

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 15, 2020

“While the Hawaii State Energy Office is a staunch supporter of energy efficiency as a means of achieving Hawai‘i’s clean energy goals, the language in HB1846 unfortunately could be challenged in court, potentially costing the state further time and money and detracting from achieving our clean energy goals. Vetoing this bill does not preclude the State leading by example or saving taxpayer dollars. The Energy Office will continue working with agencies to identify opportunities to implement energy efficiency measures that can help advance our clean energy goals and realize immediate savings for the state budget.”

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Alan Yonan Jr.
Communications Officer
DBEDT State Energy Office
(808) 291-3543
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 4, 2020

Chief Energy Officer Scott Glenn issued the following statement following Hawaiian Electric’s announcement that its fleet of about 925 vehicles will be plug-in electric by 2035.

“We commend Hawaiian Electric for leading by example as it moves to convert its fleet to all plug-in electric vehicles. Hawaii has a very bold energy agenda – to achieve 100 percent clean energy by the year 2045. It will take private sector leadership to decarbonize our economy, and we are pleased to have Hawaiian Electric as a partner in this effort.”

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Alan Yonan Jr.
Public Affairs Officer
Hawaii State Energy Office
(808) 291-3543
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 23, 2020

HONOLULU — The Hawaii State Energy Office was awarded a $425,070 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) to pursue several strategic projects that advance Hawaii’s clean economy goals and support the state’s economic recovery, including job training for energy sector workers and an upgrade of web-based tools to assist in the permitting and appropriate siting of renewable energy projects.

Other HSEO initiatives that will be supported by the grant include programs addressing energy assurance — which is essential to keep Hawai‘i’s economy moving forward — energy education and community outreach, as well as analyses of carbon policy in Hawaii and the potential conversion of the state fleet to alternative fuel vehicles. The funds were awarded under the USDOE State Energy Program (SEP) Formula Grants for Program Year 2020. When combined with existing USDOE awards, funding for these projects totals $1.13 million.

“This federal funding for our clean energy and decarbonization programs comes at a critical time when state revenue growth is under pressure from the impact of COVID-19,” said Scott Glenn, chief energy officer for the State of Hawaii. “This grant provides key support that will help the Energy Office implement a range of initiatives over the short-, medium-, and long-term that will generate economic activity in Hawaii and help get people back to work,” Glenn said.

The USDOE awards SEP Formula Grants to states, U.S. territories and the District of Columbia annually based on a formula that takes into account local factors such as population size and energy consumption. “We commend Hawaii for its strategic use of SEP funds, including leveraging with outside stakeholders to maximize program impacts and pursuing a comprehensive set of programs tailored to community goals,” said Kelsie Bell, the SEP program officer working with HSEO to implement projects.

The HSEO will use the funding to:

• To collaboratively identify, develop and coordinate workforce training and apprenticeship opportunities to support energy efficiency, renewable energy deployment, energy resilience and clean transportation employment in Hawaii. Building a skilled Hawaii-based clean energy workforce will help diversify the local economy and provide opportunities for local workers.
• Upgrade HSEO’s online renewable energy project siting tools such as Renewable EnerGIS and the Renewable Energy Permitting Wizard to improve facilitation of appropriate siting of renewable energy projects that will bring the benefits of clean energy to a broader group of Hawaii residents and businesses.
• Undertake an expanded mission-driven clean energy education, community outreach and stakeholder engagement program to more effectively and consistently communicate Hawaii’s collective energy vision. Expanded outreach and input from stakeholders and the community at-large will improve energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean transportation project development outcomes that contribute to the quality of life for everyone in Hawaii. The effort also includes website upgrades and support for clean energy public school education and professional development opportunities.
• Conduct workshops supporting discussion-based exercises to increase energy assurance capabilities and resilience for Hawaii. Project goals include developing an energy security, resiliency, and emergency preparedness exercise strategy and work plan to strengthen energy system resiliency in response to a natural disaster, such as a hurricane.
• Launch a pilot project using HSEO’s “engage” model for holistic planning and analysis of energy and carbon policy in Hawaii. The pilot will be used to demonstrate the versatility and applicability of the model to address pressing energy policy needs. It also will also serve as an education and training opportunity for stakeholders including the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission and Division of Consumer Advocacy who can leverage engage to conduct their own energy sector analysis. Better planning can increase energy system efficiency and lower costs for both utilities and customers.
• Develop a centralized “telematics” program for State of Hawaii fleet vehicles to collect data and perform analysis for the development of a fleet transition plan to renewable or carbon neutral fueled vehicles. HSEO will work with a contractor to install devices in 100 fleet vehicles and develop a centralized program to track vehicle miles traveled, fuel consumption and expenditures to help determine which vehicle are best suited for conversion to renewable or carbon neutral vehicles. Using the State of Hawaii fleet to demonstrate the economic and environmental benefits of alternative fuel vehicles could inspire greater consumer demand for the vehicles.
• Participate in a contract with other agencies to procure an electric vehicle and charging equipment for the HSEO. The electric vehicle will be a shared mode of transportation used daily to transport employees and equipment to various destinations in order to perform official business. The goal of the project is to demonstrate a cost-effective means to transition fleet vehicles to electric vehicles.

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About the Hawaii State Energy Office
The Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) is an attached agency of the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The HSEO’s mission is to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean transportation to help achieve a resilient, clean energy, decarbonized economy. Toward this end, the HSEO is developing policies and programs to achieve our energy and climate change goals while identifying strategies that create jobs, lower costs, and improve quality of life in Hawaii. For more information, visit energy.hawaii.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Alan Yonan Jr.
Communications Officer
Hawaii State Energy Office
(808) 291-3543
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 14, 2020

HONOLULU — Hawaii joined a group of 15 states and the District of Columbia to announce a joint memorandum of understanding (MOU), pledging to expand the market for electric medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including large pickup trucks and vans, delivery trucks, box trucks, school and transit buses, and long-haul delivery trucks (big-rigs). The goal is to ensure that 100 percent of all new medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sales be zero emission vehicles by 2050 with an interim target of 30 percent zero-emission vehicle sales by 2030.

States signing the MOU are California, Connecticut, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.

By promoting and investing in electric trucks and buses and the charging and fueling infrastructure needed to serve these vehicles, the signatory jurisdictions will support job creation, and help to build a resilient and clean economy.

“We welcome the opportunity to join this multi-state coalition to accelerate electrification of medium-and heavy-duty vehicles. The electrification of transportation is critical to achieving Hawaii’s zero emission clean economy goal and to reach the state’s 100 percent renewable energy target for electricity,” said Hawaii Gov. David Ige.

The Hawai‘i State Energy Office, which is charged with leading the state’s clean transportation efforts, represented Hawaii in the drafting of the MOU.

“Reducing petroleum use in the transportation sector is a top priority since transportation accounts for nearly two-thirds of fossil fuel use in Hawaii,” said Officer Scott Glenn, chief energy officer for the State of Hawaii. “The Energy Office is guiding the adoption of clean transportation across Hawaii, including the deployment of zero emissions vehicles and associated charging infrastructure that directly contribute to reduced petroleum consumption and emissions in the transportation sector,” Glenn said.

The MOU will go a long way toward slashing harmful diesel emissions and cutting carbon pollution. The transportation sector is the nation’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions and contributes to unhealthy levels of smog in many of the signatory states. Accelerating the electrification of trucks and buses is an essential step to achieve the deep economy-wide emission reductions needed to avoid the worst consequences of climate change and protect the health of millions of Americans. While trucks and buses only account for 4 percent of vehicles on the road, they are responsible for nearly 25 percent of total transportation sector greenhouse gas emissions. In fact, emissions from trucks are the fastest growing source of greenhouse gases, and the number of truck miles traveled on the nation’s roads is forecast to continue to grow significantly in the coming decades.

Truck and bus electrification also promise to deliver widespread health benefits, particularly in communities with heavy truck traffic that are burdened with higher levels of air pollution. Medium- and heavy-duty trucks are a major source of harmful smog-forming pollution, particulate matter, and air toxics. These emissions disproportionately impact low-income communities and communities of color often located near major trucking corridors, ports, and distribution hubs.

The MOU comes at an important transition point for the industry as investment in zero emission vehicle technology for the medium- and heavy-duty sector continues to ramp up. Today, at least 70 electric truck and bus models are on the market, and manufacturers are expected to make many more new models commercially available over the next decade. Apart from the public health benefits and avoided health care costs zero emission trucks and buses provide, by 2030, the total cost of ownership for many common commercial vehicles is projected to reach parity with conventionally fueled vehicles.

To provide a framework and help coordinate state efforts to meet these goals, the signatory jurisdictions will work through the existing multi-state ZEV Task Force facilitated by the Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management (NESCAUM) to develop and implement a ZEV action plan for trucks and buses.

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About the Hawaii State Energy Office
The Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) is an attached agency of the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The HSEO’s mission is to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean transportation to help achieve a resilient, clean energy, decarbonized economy. Toward this end, the HSEO is developing policies and programs to achieve our energy and climate change goals while identifying strategies that create jobs, lower costs, and improve quality of life in Hawaii. For more information, visit energy.hawaii.gov

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Alan Yonan Jr.
Communications Officer
Hawaii State Energy Office
(808) 291-3543
[email protected]

Paul J. Miller
Northeast States for Coordinated Air Use Management
617-259-2016
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2020

HONOLULU — The Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) launched a web page today to provide information, as it becomes publicly available, on the 13 solar-plus-storage and  three standalone storage projects announced by the Hawaiian Electric Companies as part of the largest renewable energy procurement ever undertaken in Hawaii.

The development of the web page is part of the HSEO’s ongoing effort to keep Hawaii’s communities better informed about renewable energy projects from the early stages of their development. The 16 projects planned for Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Island would have a combined 460 megawatts of generating capacity and nearly 3 gigawatt-hours of energy storage. The projects, announced by Hawaiian Electric May 11 following the conclusion of a competitive bidding process, would  increase the utility’s total solar generating capacity by more than 50 percent when completed.

While Hawaiian Electric announced the number of projects and the amount of generating capacity planned for each island, it has yet to disclose other details for most of the projects such as the names of developers or specific sites. Those details, and other information about the projects, will be added to the HSEO web page as they are publicly announced.

In creating the web page, HSEO is fulfilling its statutory duty under HRS 196-71(b)(3), which states that the Energy Office shall: “Provide renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy resiliency, and clean transportation project deployment facilitation to assist private sector project completion when aligned with state energy goals.”

The 16 projects are the result of the second phase of the renewable energy procurement conducted by Hawaiian Electric under the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Docket No. 2017-0352.  After Hawaiian Electric completes negotiations on power purchase agreements with the individual project developers, Hawaiian Electric will file the individual contracts with the PUC for approval. Negotiation on the Phase 1 contracts in 2018 took several months.

The web page features a table intended to provide a convenient, one-stop-shop for basic project information  as it becomes publicly available. Published sources will be cited and links provided whenever possible.

The projects listed in the table also will eventually be added to the Hawaii State Energy Office’s Renewable Energy Projects Directory, a searchable database of all large-scale renewable energy projects in all phases of development. Information published by HSEO for all projects comes from public sources of information only.

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About the Hawaii State Energy Office

The Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) is an attached agency of the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. The HSEO’s mission is to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean transportation to help achieve a resilient, clean energy, decarbonized economy. Toward this end, the HSEO is developing policies and programs to achieve our energy and climate change goals while identifying strategies that create jobs, lower costs, and improve quality of life in Hawaii. For more information, visit energy.hawaii.gov

MEDIA CONTACT:
Alan Yonan Jr.
Communications Officer
Hawaii State Energy Office
(808) 291-3543
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 3, 2020

HONOLULU — The State Senate last Thursday confirmed Scott J. Glenn to serve as Hawaii’s first chief energy officer. Glenn, who was appointed to the position by Gov. David Ige last fall, will lead the Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) in its mission to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean transportation to help achieve a resilient, clean energy, decarbonized economy.

The chief energy officer position was created by the Legislature last year as part of Act 122, which expanded the HSEO’s responsibilities and gave the office more autonomy to carry out its mission. The legislation provides statutory authority for the CEO to lead the HSEO and guide the state to reach its clean energy and decarbonization goals.

“I appreciate the opportunity to serve as Hawaii’s first chief energy officer as we move ahead toward our 2045 goals for clean energy and a clean economy,” Glenn said. “I am grateful to Gov. Ige for his support in nominating me to this important position and to the Senate for its vote of confidence. I look forward to engaging with all our community and industry stakeholders as we work together to build a clean and equitable energy future.”

Gov. Ige appointed Glenn acting CEO on Oct. 16, 2019. His term runs through Dec. 5, 2022. Glenn’s nomination was supported by Sen. Glenn Wakai, Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism. The Committee received testimony from 51 individuals, organizations, businesses, and government agencies in support of Glenn’s nomination.

“Scott’s extensive experience in the private and public sector, as well as his dedication to helping the state reach its clean energy and decarbonization goals, make him a great fit for this job,” Gov. Ige said. “His command of energy, environmental and climate policy will prove invaluable as Hawaii transitions to a clean energy future.”

Wakai added, “Scott Glenn is the perfect person to lead Hawaii’s energy crusade. He has dramatically increased morale in the State Energy Office and made the office relevant. He is an exemplary collaborator and has a proven track record of achieving results. I have full faith in Scott Glenn’s ability to propel us towards our clean energy goals.”

Before being named CEO, Glenn served as director of the Office of Environmental Quality Control, where he led the modernization of the state environmental review process by developing new administrative rules and updating best practices.

In addition, Scott co-chairs the Sustainable Hawaii Initiative, and is the liaison to the U.S. Climate Alliance – a coalition of U.S. governors committed to the Paris Agreement. In these roles, he works with state, county, and federal agencies, as well as communities across the state and stakeholders nationally and internationally to coordinate state policy development on energy, climate change, and key sustainability initiatives.

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About the Hawaii State Energy Office
The Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) is an attached agency of the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. HSEO is committed to developing and deploying high impact solutions that will maximize Hawaii’s renewable energy resources and improve efficiency and transportation standards. Through effective policies and innovative programs, HSEO has positioned Hawaii as a leader in clean energy innovation, which will generate quality jobs, attract investment opportunities and accelerate economic growth. For more information, visit energy.hawaii.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Alan Yonan Jr.
Communications Officer
Hawaii State Energy Office
(808) 587-3860
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 21, 2019

HONOLULU — The State of Hawaii has launched a new online mapping tool as part of its Hawaii Brightfields Initiative that will make it easier for land owners, developers, community members, and policymakers to assess the renewable energy potential of contaminated sites and other previously developed parcels statewide in support of Hawaii’s clean energy future.

The new tool may be found at the Hawai‘i State Energy Office’s (HSEO) Developer & Investor Center at: https://energy.hawaii.gov/developer-investor.

The tool was developed by HSEO and the Hawaii Department of Health’s Office of Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response (HEER), with support from the Hawaii Statewide Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Program in the Hawaii Office of Planning, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.

The Hawaii Brightfields Initiative supports HSEO’s mission to facilitate the efficient siting of renewable energy projects by informing preliminary site due diligence and reducing the soft costs associated with renewable energy development decisions. The tool encourages the reuse of previously developed, disturbed or contaminated lands, which can be more development-ready and helps to preserve untouched lands in Hawaii. The Hawaii Brightfields Initiative also supports HEER’s mission to protect human health and the environment by enabling the effective management and redevelopment of sites with known soil contamination.

“Assessing the potential to site renewable energy projects on contaminated sites is particularly relevant in Hawaii where it is imperative that we make the best use of our limited land,” said Scott Glenn, chief energy officer for the State of Hawaii. “We look forward to continuing to work with our partners and others in making information and data useful and accessible to the public,” he said.

The Brightfields tool is designed to be user-friendly without the need for special skills, software or experience. Users can find sites by viewing the map or research specific sites through a filtering feature.

“We are fortunate to work with our partners at the State Energy Office, the National Renewable Energy Office, and US EPA to market potentially contaminated sites, including brownfields and landfills that may be ideal for renewable energy projects,” said Keith Kawaoka, DOH Deputy Director of Environmental Health. “Encouraging redevelopment of these properties helps preserve currently undeveloped land for other important uses, like agriculture or conservation.   Competitive grants to assess and clean up brownfields for sustainable re-use are available from US EPA’s Brownfields Program.”

The Hawaii Brightfields Initiative database was originally developed by NREL with assistance from the US EPA. Significant technical contributions were provided by Symbinomics and the GIS Program, which will publish and maintain the tool on the State’s Geospatial Data Portal (https://geoportal.hawaii.gov). Numerous other government agencies and private entities also contributed to the development of the Hawaii Brightfields Initiative with review of the tool and suggestions for features.

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About the Hawai‘i State Energy Office
The Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) is an attached agency of the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. HSEO is committed to developing and deploying high impact solutions that will maximize Hawaii’s renewable energy resources and improve efficiency and transportation standards. Through effective policies and innovative programs, HSEO has positioned Hawai‘i as a leader in clean energy innovation, which will generate quality jobs, attract investment opportunities and accelerate economic growth. For more information, visit energy.hawaii.gov

About the Hawaii Department of Health Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response Office
The Hazard Evaluation and Emergency Response (HEER) Office provides leadership, support, and partnership in preventing, planning for, responding to, and enforcing environmental laws relating to releases or threats of releases of hazardous substances into the environment. Supported by US EPA, the HEER Office oversees the state’s active Brownfields Program, which  facilitates assessment, cleanup, and safe, efficient redevelopment of contaminated properties statewide through technical assistance, guidance and oversight to property owners, developers and prospective purchasers.

About the Hawaii Statewide GIS Program
Authorized under Chapter 225M-2(b)(4)(B), Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS), as amended, the Hawaii Statewide GIS Program within the Office of Planning leads a multi-agency effort to establish, promote and coordinate the use of GIS data and technology among Hawaii state agencies. The program is critical to more than 600 state GIS data and system users across more than a dozen state departments that develop and maintain a wide variety of data, maps and applications — many of which are available to the public and/or relied upon by state personnel. For more information, visit the Hawaii Statewide GIS Program main webpage at: https://planning.hawaii.gov/gis or visit the Geospatial Data Portal at: https://geoportal.hawaii.gov.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Alan Yonan Jr.
Communications Officer
Hawaii State Energy Office
(808) 587-3860
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 29, 2019

HONOLULU — Hawaii was one of four states selected by the National Governors Association to participate in a state-focused technical assistance project to enhance their experiences in the GridEx V energy security exercise.

GridEx is a remote, biennial exercise conducted by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) to simulate a cyber and physical attack on the electric grid across North America. Participants include members of the electric sector, other critical infrastructure operators, law enforcement, and state, local and federal officials from across the country. The GridEx V exercise will take place Nov. 13-14, 2019.

“We appreciate the National Governors Association’s inclusion of Hawaii in this important exercise at a time when increasing attention is being focused on grid security,” said Hawaii Chief Energy Officer Scott Glenn. “We look forward to sharing Hawaii’s unique experience with its isolated electric grids and learning about the best practices being employed by other states as they deal with grid security issues.”

The Hawaii State Energy Office and the State of Hawaii Department of Defense Office of Homeland Security jointly submitted Hawaii’s application to participate in the exercise.

“The NGA workshop and technical assistance is a great opportunity to advance our critical energy infrastructure planning and resiliency activities, and specifically our strategic communications strategy,” said Delores Cook, administrator for the Hawaii Office of Homeland Security.

“This exercise will give us a chance to strengthen crisis communications relationships and identify and discuss interdependencies between the energy sector and other lifeline critical infrastructure sectors relevant to response and recovery from a prolonged power outage with physical and cyber elements,” said Mark Want, HSEO energy analyst.

Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, NGA teams will work with the four states to prepare for, participate in, and share lessons and best practices from the exercise via phone consultations, an in-person workshop and action planning. Other states participating besides Hawaii are Colorado, Idaho and Maryland.

During the exercise, participants will remotely respond to simulated cyber and physical events to determine how their organizations, including governors and states, might respond in a real-world event. Governors play critical roles during widespread electric grid outages and NGA’s project will help participating states improve their ability to respond and recover from these incidents, enhance emergency communications, build relationships with electricity and other critical infrastructure operators, and identify infrastructure resilience needs.

After the exercise, the four selected states will contribute to an after-action report to identify state-focused challenges and lessons learned. The state teams also will participate in a two-day, post exercise workshop with experts, in which they will explore these results and lessons further and develop action plans to improve energy security in their states.

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ABOUT HAWAII STATE ENERGY OFFICE
The Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) is an attached agency of the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. With the state’s goal to reach 100 percent renewable energy generation by 2045, HSEO is committed to developing and deploying high impact solutions that will maximize Hawaii’s renewable energy resources and improve efficiency and transportation standards. Through effective policies and innovative programs, HSEO has positioned Hawaii as a leader in clean energy innovation, which will generate quality jobs, attract investment opportunities and accelerate economic growth.

ABOUT THE NATIONAL GOVERNORS ASSOCIATION
Founded in 1908, the National Governors Association (NGA) is the nonpartisan organization of the nation’s 55 governors. Through NGA, governors share best practices, address issues of national and state interest and share innovative solutions that improve state government and support the principles of federalism.

MEDIA CONTACT:
Alan Yonan Jr.
Communications Officer
Hawaii State Energy Office
(808) 587-3860
[email protected]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Oct. 24, 2019

Chief Energy Officer Scott Glenn issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s affirmation that he plans to pull the United States out of the Paris climate agreement less than two weeks before his administration can formally start the process:

“Hawaii is extremely disappointed with the failure of climate leadership at the federal level. Our small state has big ambitions, and by joining forces with the 25-governor U.S. Climate Alliance, we’re already producing significant actions. For Hawaii, climate change is an existential threat, and we cannot back down now—in fact, we need to ratchet up this ambition—to go well beyond the U.S.’s Paris pledge and keep warming to under 1.5 degrees.”

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Alan Yonan Jr.
Communications Officer
DBEDT State Energy Office
(808) 587-3860
[email protected]

For Immediate Release: Sept. 25, 2019

HONOLULU — The nonprofit Energy Services Coalition (ESC) recognized Hawai‘i for the eighth consecutive year as the nation’s cumulative per capita leader for investment in state and county energy efficiency projects, which are helping Hawai‘i meet its clean energy goals.

Hawai‘i received the ESC’s 2019 “Race to the Top” award for its “outstanding commitment to energy efficiency, environmental stewardship and economic development through guaranteed energy savings performance contracting (GESPC).” GESPC is a creative financing tool that enables building owners to use future energy savings to pay for costs of energy-saving projects, eliminating the need for upfront capital expenditures. Hawai‘i, with cumulative investment of $372.81 per capita in energy performance contracts, outpaced second place Washington State at $211.83 per capita. For a full list of states, see: https://www.energyservicescoalition.org/espc/table.

“The state is leading by example in using this innovative financing program to help fund its energy transformation to a carbon-neutral economy. In the process, we’re saving over a billion dollars in electricity costs. That’s a double win,” said Gov. David Ige.

Mike McCartney, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, said energy performance contracting demonstrates how Hawai‘i’s clean energy agenda helps the environment, creates good jobs, grows local businesses and reduces the amount of money sent overseas to buy imported oil. “Efficiency gains from these major projects are having a significant impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions while providing businesses a healthy return on investment,” McCartney said.

GESPC uses the savings from upgrades such as digital controls for energy systems, and lighting, plumbing and air conditioning improvements to repay the cost of the equipment and its installation. The Hawaii State Energy Office has been providing technical assistance to state and country agencies entering into energy performance contracts since 1996.

“With the U.S. Green Building Council projecting greenhouse gas emissions from buildings to grow faster than any other sector over the next 25 years we need to do everything we can to make buildings more energy efficient and climate friendly,” said Carilyn Shon, the state’s Chief Energy Officer. “Government agencies are demonstrating that energy performance contracting is a cost-effective way to tackle the problem of carbon emissions while saving on energy bills.”

GESPC projects include office buildings, schools, hospitals, airports, highways, harbors, and prisons. In a typical energy performance contract, the building owner contracts with an energy service company to install the energy improvements and guarantee the energy savings over the contract term. The contractor is then paid out of the energy savings and captures the incentives made available by Hawaiʻi Energy to promote investment in energy efficiency.

Jim Arwood, executive director of the ESC, praised Hawai‘i and other states for their efforts to promote energy performance contracting. “It has been a wonderful experience working with the folks at the Hawaiʻi Energy Office and celebrating their success with our network of more than 30 state chapters located throughout the country,” Arwood, said. “The Hawai‘i program is a model of how to do things right.”

Performance contracts signed by state and local government agencies in Hawaiʻi since 1996 include 295 buildings and facilities covering more than 112 million square feet. The $507.1 million of energy performance contracts put in place will save the state an estimated $1.2 billion in electricity costs over the life of the contracts. Hawai‘i is one of only nine states that have surpassed the half-billion-dollar mark for cumulative investment in GESPC.

“Hawai‘i continues to be a national leader in clean energy and energy efficiency,” said Brian Kealoha, executive director of Hawaiʻi Energy. “Since 1996, Hawai‘i government agencies have saved, on average, more than 5 million kilowatt hours a year, equating to over $24 million in savings, with the majority of this coming through energy performance contracts.”

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About the Hawaiʻi State Energy Office
The Hawaiʻi State Energy Office (HSEO) is a division of the state’s Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. With the state’s goal to reach 100 percent renewable energy generation by 2045, HSEO is leading the state’s charge toward clean energy independence. HSEO is committed to developing and deploying high impact solutions that will maximize Hawai‘i’s renewable energy resources and improve efficiency and transportation standards. Through effective policies and innovative programs, HSEO has positioned Hawaiʻi port as a leader in clean energy innovation, which will generate quality jobs, attract investment opportunities and accelerate economic growth. For more information, visit energy.hawaii.gov

About the Energy Services Coalition
ESC is a national nonprofit organization, composed of a network of experts from a wide range of organizations, working together at the state and local levels to increase energy efficiency and building upgrades through energy savings performance contracting. For more information visit https://www.energyservicescoalition.org/

About Hawaiʻi Energy
Hawaiʻi Energy helps educate island families and businesses about the many, lasting benefits of energy efficiency and conservation. Hawaiʻi Energy encourages and rewards smart energy choices which will allow our state to reach 100 percent clean energy faster and cheaper. To date, Hawaiʻi Energy has collectively saved the people of Hawaiʻi more than a billion dollars off their energy bills. For more information visit https://hawaiienergy.com/

MEDIA CONTACT:
Alan Yonan Jr.
Communications Officer
DBEDT State Energy Office
(808) 587-3860
[email protected]