Governor Ige Returns from ‘Powering Cities’ Forum

After spending three days in Washington, D.C., Governor David Ige will return to Hawai’i on Thursday.

Govenor Ige was an invited speaker at The Washington Post’s “Powering Cities” forum held on Tuesday, and also spent time meeting with the Hawai’i congressional delegation and other elected officials.

During his discussion at the forum, Governor Ige talked about the commitment Hawai’i has to clean energy and Act 097, which was recently signed into law. The Act turned law will make Hawai’i the first state in the country that has a 100 percent renewable energy standard. By 2045, it is the aim to generate 100 percent of electricity in Hawai’i from renewable resources.

“Our energy costs are the highest in the country. We pay 37 cents per kilowatt hour, a lot more than anyone else (in the nation),” Governor Ige said. “The challenge is storage. It’s about how we will be able to generate the power from the renewables when it’s available, store it and be able to deliver it to the customer when they want to use it in a reliable and safe fashion.

“The technology we need (for 100 percent renewable power) exists today, but it hasn’t been produced at utility scale.”

Video from The Washington Post’s “Powering Cities” forum on Tuesday, courtesy of the Office of Governor Ige, Youtube.