Hawaiian Electric Companies Support Renewable Energy Goal

Hawaiian Electric Company announced its approval of what has been called the most aggressive energy goal in the country.

On Monday, Gov. David Ige signed four clean energy bills into law. Among the four was bill HB623, which would strengthen the state’s commitment to clean energy by directing the state’s utilities to generate 100 percent of their electricity sales from renewable energy resources by 2045.

The utility company commented on the signing, saying that it fully supports the goal of having 100 percent of the state’s electricity coming from renewable sources, while maintaining reasonable costs for electric customers.

“Reducing our dependence on imported oil and increasing our use of renewable energy is critical to our state’s future. It’s the clean energy transformation we all want for Hawai’i. Reaching this goal will require a diverse portfolio of renewable energy resources and strong, ungraded electric grids, and that’s exactly what we’re working toward,” said Alan Oshima, Hawaiian Electric president and CEO.

According to Hawaiian Electric, the proposed merger between the electric company and NextEra Energy will provide additional resources to help make the goals of the state a reality. NextEra Energy is responsible for building and operating one of the nation’s most modern grid networks and is the current largest producer of renewable energy from the wind and sun in the world.

“Reaching these goals will be a challenge that our entire state must work together to meet. And we’ll do that with strong collaboration among all stakeholders and our collective commitment to building a better energy future for Hawai’i,” Oshima said.