Hawaiian Electric Companies report record renewable energy use 

In Hawaii, the Hawaiian Electric Companies are reporting that Hawai‘i Island led the state with 48.7 percent of customer electricity use coming from renewable resources in 2015. Maui County, including Moloka‘i and Lāna‘i, recorded 35.4 percent and O‘ahu achieved 17.2 percent of electricity used from renewable energy  The Hawaiian Electric Companies reported the data in the annual Renewable Portfolio Standard report filed with the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission. The consolidated RPS for Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric and Hawai‘i Electric Light combined was 23.2 percent, an increase from 21.3 percent for 2014.

The achievement far exceeded Hawai’i’s 2015 RPS goal of 15 percent and came from the use of a diverse mix of renewable sources, including waste-to-energy, biomass, geothermal, hydro, wind, biofuels and solar, both utility-scale and customer-sited rooftop systems.  The RPS reported to the PUC represents the calculation for the entire year. However, Hawai‘i Island hit a renewable high of 68 percent in December 2015; Maui County hit 63 percent in April 2015 and O‘ahu reached 42 percent in May 2015.  The Hawaiian Electric Companies are preparing updated power supply improvement plans for achieving Hawai‘i’s future RPS goals of 30 percent by 2020, 40 percent by 2030, 70 percent by 2040 and 100 percent by 2045.

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