B&M Strong, Smart Sustainable - Modernizing the Grid

Strategy & Planning

Hawaii PUC: Gina Yi

“I review applications from such utilities as Hawaiian Electric, reviewing its application for major projects, which includes electric diagrams.”
Author Bio: 

Gina Yi is interim chief engineer at the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.

Interim Chief Engineer

Hawaii PUC: Jodi Endo Chai

“If it takes us months to issue them a certificate, they’re unable to legally operate and earn income all that time.”
Author Bio: 

Jodi Endo Chai is executive officer at the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.

Executive Officer

Hawaii PUC: Dave Parsons

“We don’t testify, generally. Our Staff is advisory, so we’re an extension of the Commissioners. Our job is to investigate the issues before the Commission and advise them.”
Author Bio: 

Dave Parsons is chief for policy and research at the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.

Chief for Policy and Research

Hawaii PUC: Caroline Ishida

“The state Supreme Court has looked at some novel issues raised by some of the parties related to environmental considerations like greenhouse gases.”
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“We are able to think about ways we can move in the policy directions that have been established by the legislature and Governor’s officein terms of renewable energy and moving toward that 100% RPS by 2045.”
Author Bio: 

Caroline Ishida is chief counsel for the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.

Chief Counsel

Hawaii PUC: Jennifer Potter

“Our journey of PBR was solidified by legislation that did mandate that we investigate a way to break the link between capital investment and revenue for the utility.”
Author Bio: 

Jennifer Potter is a commissioner at the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.

Commissioner

Hawaii PUC: Leo Asuncion

“The focus for us right now is cost containment of the companies. Are the costs justifiable to us that eventually the ratepayer needs to pay in base rates?”
Author Bio: 

Leo Asuncion is a commissioner at the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.

Commissioner

Visiting Hawaii's PUC

We interviewed the chair, commissioners and more at Hawaii's Public Utilities Commission.
Author Bio: 

Steve Mitnick is President of Lines Up, Inc., Editor-in-Chief of Public Utilities Fortnightly, and author of “Lines Down: How We Pay, Use, Value Grid Electricity Amid the Storm.”

Unique Renewable Goals

Hawaiian Electric: Leland Cockcroft and Robert Kaneshiro

“We have four cross-island transmission lines of 69 kV. During that storm, three of them got affected, so we only had one transmission line remaining across the island.”
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Robert Kaneshiro: We have about 97 megawatts of connected rooftop solar
Robert Kaneshiro: Our transmission system is 69 kilovolts. Our evening peak comes in at about 185 or 190 megawatts.
Leland Cockcroft: The 2018 Lower East rift zone of Kilauea erupted and took out two of our transmission lines, as well as our interconnecting switching station for the geothermal plant.
Author Bio: 

Robert Kaneshiro is Operations Superintendent at Hawaii Electric Light.

Leland Cockcroft is System Planning Engineer at Hawaii Electric Light.

Hawaii Electric Light subsidiary

Hawaiian Electric: Yoh Kawanami

“Community Based Renewable Energy is where you have a solar farm but people that live in a condo or have an odd-shaped roof may be able to invest in those panels and get a bill credit as if they have rooftop solar.”
Author Bio: 

Yoh Kawanami is co-director for customer energy resources at Hawaiian Electric.

Co-director for Customer Energy Resources

Hawaiian Electric: Jack Shriver

“Our islands are relatively small, and the acreage footprint is going to start to become a more contentious issue. We’re going to need to look for technologies that don’t use up as much of our precious resources.”
Author Bio: 

Jack Shriver is the director for generation project development at Hawaiian Electric.

Director for Generation Project Development

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