March 2015 PDF
March 2015
GEMS’ Sparkle Fades with Time
Two years after passage of a law intended to jumpstart the purchase of renewable energy technology by underserved customers, Environment Hawai`i takes a look at how the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism has developed the Green Energy Market … Continued
Solar Water Heaters Absent from List Of Technologies Approved for GEMS Loans
One of the big puzzles about the Green Energy Market Securitization program is why it excludes loans for solar water heaters. These certainly offer the biggest bang for the buck to any customer wanting lower utility bills. And the cost … Continued
Public Input Largely Absent As GEMS Program Evolves
On June 4, 2014, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism unveiled its plan to carry out Act 211 of the 2013 Legislature, which promised to bring the benefits of renewable energy to sectors of the population that had … Continued
New Green Infrastructure Fee Cuts into Public Benefits Fund
Since 2009, customers of the Hawaiian Electric companies have been charged a Public Benefits Fee. Calculated as a percentage of usage, the fee pays a contractor to the state Public Utilities Commission who manages a program that is intended … Continued
Green Infrastructure Authority Gets Little Information on Custodial Bank
Usually, when a state board or commission is asked to make a decision, its staff will prepare a background report. In the case of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, for example, the staff report can run to several … Continued
DBEDT Wants $259 For Contract Copies
In researching the articles for this issue, Environment Hawai`i sought copies of contracts that the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism entered into with the Bank of New York Mellon, Renewable Finance, and Clean Power Finance. On February 24, … Continued
Editorial: Green Energy Loan Program Betrays Its Promise
When cooking up its Green Energy Market Securitization (GEMS) program, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism seems to have followed the recipe for growing mushrooms. You know the one: keep them in the dark and feed them … … Continued
New & Noteworthy: Malaekahana development, `Aina Le`a, and Charles Barker
Keeping the Country Country: Last month, Ikaika Anderson, chair of the Honolulu City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee, proposed gutting all references in the draft Ko`olau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan (KLSCP) to a new residential community in Malaekahana. In his … Continued
Rollout of Green Energy Loan Program Shows Limited Pool of Beneficiaries
When the Hawai`i Legislature passed Senate Bill 1087 in 2013, the bill was hailed as a way to democratize access to energy-saving technology, such as rooftop photovoltaic installations. Nearly two years later, as the program anticipated in the legislation is … Continued