PUC Annual Report–Fiscal Year 2011-12 - Public Utilities Commission

Public Utilities Commission Annual Report 2011-12
State of Hawaii Page 33
Electricity and Energy Proceedings
The Commission regulates four electric utility companies or entities engaged in
the production, purchase, transmission, distribution, and sale of electric energy in the
State: Hawaiian Electric Company (“HECO”), serving the island of Oahu; Maui Electric
Company (“MECO”), serving the islands of Maui, Lanai, and Molokai; Hawaii Electric
Light Company (“HELCO”), serving the island of Hawaii (collectively, “the
HECO Companies”); and Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (“KIUC”), serving the island of
Kauai. MECO and HELCO are wholly owned subsidiaries of HECO, which is in turn a
wholly owned subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc.
PUC Investigations
The Commission has been given the power, under HRS § 269-7, to make its own
motion “to examine into the condition of each public utility, the manner in which it is
operated, . . . its business relations with other persons, companies, or corporations, . . .
and all matters of every nature affecting the relations and transactions between it and
the public or persons or corporations.” The legislature can also direct the Commission
to open investigations. The following are some of the investigatory dockets currently
open relating to electricity and energy:
• Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards Law—Docket No. 2010-0037
In March 2010, the Commission instituted an investigation to examine
establishment of energy efficiency portfolio standards for the State of Hawaii,
pursuant to Act 155, Session Laws of Hawaii 2009 and HRS § 269-96. Act 155,
as codified in HRS § 269-96 requires, among other things, that the Commission
establish EEPS “designed to achieve four thousand three hundred
gigawatt-hours of electricity use reductions statewide by 2030; provided that the
commission shall establish interim goals for electricity use reduction to be
achieved by 2015, 2020, and 2025 and may also adjust the 2030 standard by
rule or order to maximize cost-effective energy-efficiency programs and
technologies.”
Pursuant to a Stipulated Procedural Schedule filed in the docket, the
parties held a series of Informational Workshops in the Fall of 2010; the
Commission hosted Technical Sessions in May and August 2011; the
Commission’s consultant submitted on August 5, 2011 a proposal for
“A Framework for Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standards” for the parties review
and comment; and Final Statements of Position were filed by the parties on
August 29, 2011. On January 3, 2012, the Commission approved the
Framework, which establishes EEPS interim goals that will set the course for
achieving the 2030 standard in the HRS. The Framework establishes a
Technical Working Group that will represent the Commission-regulated and
non-regulated entities in the EEPS reporting process. On February 17, 2012 the
Commission named members of the EEPS Technical Working Group.
Though this docket was closed on April 4, 2012, the Commission’s
Technical Working Group continues to meet and provide input to the
Commission.