The Hawai'i County Energy
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ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR THE HAWAI‘I COUNTY ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY PLAN OCTOBER 3, 2007 Historical Future By Michael Davies, Claire Gagne, Zeke Hausfather, & Dawn Lippert Project Manager: Jeremiah Johnson, Ph.D. Faculty Advisor: Marian Chertow, Ph.D. Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies Research conducted for The Kohala Center, Kamuela, Hawai‘i and the Hawai‘i County Department of Research and Development Prepared for and Funded by the Hawai‘i County Council ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The authors would like to extend our sincere gratitude to the many people who have helped in the creation of this report: Betsy Cole, Matthews Hamabata, Jan Stenberg, Vanessa Geisman, and Debera Crosson at The Kohala Center, for their continued administrative, intellectual, and advisory support To Noe Noe Wong-Wilson, a founding member of The Kohala Center's Board of Directors, for her support in matters both intellectual and cultural The Hawai‘i County Council for the vision to launch this project, with special thanks to Chairman Peter Hoffman, and Council Members Robert Jacobson and Angel Pilago for their generous financial support Robert Arrigoni, Jane Testa, and Diane Ley at Hawai‘i County Research and Development, for their continued insight and support Prof. Marian Chertow at Yale University’s School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, for her continued guidance The many members of the public who provided comments at the various public meetings that were held during the Spring and Summer of 2007 The research team would also like to thank the many people who offered their time and insight through interviews, tours, and emails. Inclusion in these Acknowledgements does not imply endorsement of this report or the recommendations contained herein. Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism: Steven Alber, Andrea Gill, Maurice Kaya, John Tantlinger, Howard Wiig, Elizabeth Raman, Priscilla Thompson, Maria Tome Edith Kanaka‘ole Foundation: Ulu Garmon Energy Management Solutions: Mitchell Johnson Gentry Builders: Robert Kayser, Robert “McKibbin” Mist Hawai‘i Agriculture Research Center: Mike Poteet Hawai‘i County Department of Public Works: Randy Riley State Department of Transportation: David Hein, Chauncey Wong Yuen Hawai‘i County Department of Water Supply: Bettina Arrigoni, Earl Fukunaga, Clyde Young Hawai‘i County Mass Transit: Tom Brown Hawai‘i County Planning Department: Susan Gagorik, Brad Kurokawa Hawai‘i Renewable Energy Alliance: Warren Bollmeier HELCO: Robbie Alm, Pat Moore Hawai‘i Superferry: Terry O’Halloran Kamehameha Schools: Peter Simmons Kauai County Office of Economic Development: Glenn Sato Maui County Energy Office: Kal Kobayashi Pacific Biodiesel: Kelly King PowerLight: John Crouch Puna Geothermal Venture: Mike Kaleikini i Rocky Mountain Institute: Lionel Bony, Virginia Lacy, Christina Page, Laura Schewel University of Hawai‘i at Hilo: Dean Bill Steiner University of Hawai‘i at Manoa: Makena Coffman, Sarah Goorskey, Prof. Goro Uehara US Biodiesel: Kyle Datta, Cortney Hoffman iii TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Abbreviations and Acronyms iv Executive Summary ES-1 1. Public Involvement and Outreach 1.1 Sustainable Energy Plan Stakeholder and Public Meetings 1 1.2 Community Development Planning 1 Kona Community Development Planning Process 2 Puna Community Development Planning Process 3 2. Personnel and Training 2.1 County Employees 4 2.2 Training for Renewable Technology Maintenance and Repair 5 3. Electricity Supply – Centralized 3.1 Current Electricity Use and Future Scenarios 7 Historical Electricity Generation and Price 7 Electricity Scenarios 10 3.2 Recommendations for Future Policies 19 Time-of-Day Pricing 19 Block Pricing 21 Transmission Line Upgrades 23 Energy Storage: Pumped Storage Hydro with Wind, Batteries 25 Power Plant Retirements 28 Geothermal Power Development 31 Competitive Bidding 35 Avoided Cost 37 Utility Risk Sharing 38 Renewable Portfolio Standard 40 Net Metering 43 IRP-3 44 4. Supply – Decentralized 4.1 Solar Energy 46 Photovoltaic Modules 46 Solar Water Heaters 47 Residential Solar Energy 47 Commercial Sector Solar Energy 53 Public Sector Solar Energy 54 Information Dissemination 56 5. Supply – Fuels 5.1 Biofuels 58 Background and Options 58 Economic Incentives 59 Life Cycle Benefits 61 Research and Development 62 Existing Solid Biomass 68 5.2 Waste to Energy 69 Background to County Solid Waste Management Problems 70 Limited Solid Waste and Funds 71 Recycling 73 ii Stated Goals of Hawai‘i Legislature and the EPA 74 5.3 Hydrogen 75 What is Hydrogen Energy? 75 Hydrogen Initiatives Outside of Hawai‘i 78 Hawai‘i State and County Initiatives 78 County Implementation of Hydrogen 79 5.3 Ocean Energy 82 Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion 82 Wave Energy 87 6. Demand – Building Efficiency 6.1 Residential Housing 95 Residential Building Efficiency 95 Point of Sale Incentives and Information for Efficient Appliances and Lighting 115 6.2 Commercial Buildings 123 6.3 Public Sector 128 7. Demand – Department of Water Supply 7.1 Leak Detection and Repair 129 7.2 Distributed Generation with Microturbines and Photovoltaic Modules 132 7.3 Conservation Strategy 133 8. Demand – Transportation 8.1 Public Sector 134 Mass Transit and Rideshare 134 Idling 138 County Vehicle Fleet 139 Transportation Lighting 143 Aviation and the Superferry 149 8.2 Private Sector 152 Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles 152 Private Automobile Fuel Efficiency 157 9. Potential Cumulative Effects of Recommendations 165 10. Future Research 174 Appendix A. The Supply Side Model A-1 B. Resources B-1 iii LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS AC Air Conditioning ASHRAE American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers B100 100% Biodiesel B2 2% Biodiesel Blend B20 20% Biodiesel Blend B90 90% Biodiesel Blend BCAP Building Codes Assistance Project Boe Barrels of Oil Equivalent Btu British Thermal Unit CDP Community Development Plan CFL Compact Fluorescent Light Bulb CT Combustion Turbine DBEDT Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism DSM Demand Side Management E10 10% Ethanol Blend E85 85% Ethanol Blend ECAC Energy Cost Adjustment Clause EIA Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department of Energy EPA Environmental Protection Agency FERC Federal Energy Regulatory Commission GWh Gigawatt-hours (one billion watt-hours) HCATT Hawai‘i Center for Advanced Transportation Technology HECO Hawai‘i Electric Company (parent company of HELCO) HELCO Hawai‘i Electric Light Company HEP Hamakua Energy Partners HNEI Hawai‘i Natural Energy Institute HPwES Home Performance with EnergyStar HRS Hawai‘i Revised Statutes IECC International Energy Conservation Code IESNA Illuminating Engineering Society of North America IPCC Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change IPP Independent Power Producer IRP Integrated Resource Plan IRP-3 HELCO's Third Integrated Resource Plan kW Kilowatts (one thousand watts) kWh Kilowatt-hour (one thousand watt-hours) LED Light-Emitting Diode LEED Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design MEC Model Energy Code MECO Maui Electric Company MMBtu Million British Thermal Units iv Mpg Miles per Gallon MSFO Medium Sulfur Fuel Oil MW Megawatts (one million watts) MWh Megawatt-hours (one million watt-hours) NEG Net Excess Generation NELHA Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawai‘i Authority NYMEX New York Mercantile Exchange O&M Operations and Maintenance OTEC Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion PAYS Pay As You Save PGV Puna Geothermal Venture PHEV Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle PSH Pumped Storage Hydro PUC Public Utilities Commission PURPA Public Utilities Regulatory Policies Act PV Photovoltaic QF Qualified facility RESNet Residential Energy Services Network RPS Renewable Portfolio Standard RSHG Residential Solar Heat Gain SEER Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio SHGC Solar Heat Gain Coefficient SWH Solar Water Heater TOD Time-of-day v EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Hawai‘i Island depends heavily upon imported petroleum products to meet its energy needs. Petroleum products shipped in from the mainland United States and foreign countries currently satisfy the fuel demand for approximately 70% of electricity generation and virtually all transportation needs. Growth in population, tourism, and the economy has resulted in significant and steady increases in energy demand in the commercial, transportation, and residential sectors. High petroleum prices are a main factor driving up Hawai‘i County’s electricity price, which was more than three times the national average in 2006. Gasoline prices are among the highest in the nation. Due to this reliance on imported petroleum-based fuels, the County is vulnerable to the volatility of global oil markets and sends hundreds of millions of dollars out of the local economy each year. Fossil fuel use poses environmental problems that include oil spills, air pollution, and the release of greenhouse gases that cause global climate change. In recognition of Hawai‘i County’s dependency on fossil fuel, the Hawai‘i County Council directed the Hawai‘i County Department of Research Development to create a plan to transition the Island from fossil fuel use for transportation energy and electric generation to a system based on greater efficiency and renewable energy. In September, 2006, the Hawai‘i County Council issued Resolution 419-06, which provided funding for the creation of an energy sustainability plan. The goals of this Resolution included: “The identification of opportunities and incentives for Hawai‘i County to enhance and maximize energy self-sufficiency and conservation and to employ