Energy

It costs $2 a barrel to ship Texas crude to Europe or Asia and $7 to ship it to Philadelphia....

...HB1468 Removes the authorization granted to the public utilities commission to establish an interisland high-voltage electric transmission cable....

Contrary to some reports, the Hawaiian Electric Companies are continuing to accept solar photovoltaic (PV) applications....

The next step in the process is to begin contract negotiations with Ormat, with an agreement to be submitted to the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for approval....

Under SB358, gas will be taxed more heavily than oil....

If approved, Hawaii taxpayers could find themselves providing $44M in loan guarantees to an Indian company's jet fuel deal in England....

Local, democratic control over the island’s energy infrastructure....

Requires PUC to establish community-based renewable energy tariff or tariffs by no later than January 1, 2016....

...35 schools on Oahu and 15 schools on Kauai....

Should the bill pass out of CPC committee it will be heard in Finance Committee next....

...Expenses, including the $1.25M loan to IDG, would not be recovered....

Customers heard pitches that turned out to be false, deceptive, and misleading....

...their projects “are not obligated to physically deliver electricity.”...

...reprogramming its Hawaiian microinverter fleet en masse, to help Hawaiian Electric....

...Nebraskans pay one of the lowest rates for electricity in the nation and revenues are reinvested in infrastructure to ensure reliable and cheap service for years to come....

...In nearly any other state, the inter-island cable project being considered in Hawaii would be subject to various federal rules and regulations designed to ensure consumers receive the benefits of robust competition....

...see the status and progress of planned renewable generation projects, including customer-sited rooftop solar as well as mid-sized and utility-scale wind and solar projects....

Highlights of the application include a commitment to not file a request with the PUC for a general base rate increase for at least four years post-transaction close and approximately $60 million in quantified customer savings...

Senator Jeffrey Flake from Arizona, who attended BYU will keynote our evening. He knows our state, our people and our customs.  He sits on important committees in the U.S. Senate which affect our state.....

“The next round of high prices is likely to start later this year, as crude rebounds to the $80s and $90s, perhaps pushing to the $100 level by late in the year or early next.”

“It is critically important to address energy concerns and propose effective local solutions this legislative year because of HECO's acquisition offer from Florida-based company, NextEra,” said Rep. Thielen....

...if prices stay this low, it will take up to four months before electricity prices fully reflect the drop in oil prices....

Power fluctuations from a first large plant installed in 2012 have already largely burned out the big batteries....

Any program changes from this proposal would apply only to new customers....

This agreement provides NextEra Energy Resources with long-term access rights to PRFT lands to develop renewable energy derived from PRFT's wind resources....

The drop in crude oil prices from $112/ barrel in June of 2014 to $46/barrel today will, if sustained, provide a nice boost to Hawaii’s economy....

Doug Chin is former managing director for the City and County of Honolulu.  Randy Iwase was Supervising Deputy Attorney General whose division provided legal counsel to the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and the Public Utilities Commission....

State land records show the couple illegally built two bed and breakfast units and operated the lucrative business for more than a decade in a conservation district in Hanalei....

Top concerns include the state economy, education, the Hawaii Health Connector, oversight of the Public Utilities Commission in light of the Hawaiian Electric Industries/NextEra merger, and positively affecting the cost of living for Hawaii residents....

She previously told PBN that she would like to continue as chair....

The board of directors and management of NEE became more familiar with HEI through NEE’s involvement with energy projects in Hawaii in 2011....

A Hawaii solar state of the union from Marco Mangelsdorf....

"...its biggest proposal in the Aloha state is a $600 million cable project...."

...the production tax credit (PTC) gives wind companies 2.3 cents for every kilowatt-hour of electricity they produce....

There are at least two class action suits filed against the HEI-NextEra merger....

In Hawaii, its power company is trying to get a $55 fixed monthly charge, which is double its current fee....

...leasing solar panels from a third party may be a harmful investment for homeowners....

...The study examines environmental costs for cars' entire life cycle, including where power comes from and the environmental effects of building batteries....

NextEra paid just $88 million in taxes on earnings of nearly $7 billion. That’s a tax rate of just 1.25 percent when the statutory rate is 35 percent....

Deal after deal has fallen through...The Entergy Merger Failure....The Constellation Energy Merger Failure....

“It takes a lot of energy to extract and process solar-grade silicon,” says co-author Seth Darling. “And in China, that energy tends to come from dirtier and less efficient energy sources...."

The average price of the seven new solar projects is 14 cents per kilowatt-hour....

“Florida is not known for rooftop solar. It’s known for utility scale projects,” said Leslie Cole-Brooks, executive director, Hawaii Solar Energy Association....

“With this new contract, Hawaiian Electric will be purchasing approximately half our production volume...."

NextEra Energy, Inc. and Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. today announced a definitive agreement under which the companies have agreed to combine....

For over a year, Hawaiian Electric has been claiming that the "green infrastructure fee" now beginning to appear on electric bills statewide is not a rate hike....

...Managing their own demand in response to utility requests is another way for customers to save on their electric bills while supporting more clean energy....

...to address operational issues associated with high degrees of distributed solar penetration on electrical grids....