Clean energy: expensive, cost effective, and Hawai'i utilities are on board

HECO is looking forward to an undersea cable-connected future in which wind energy from Molokai and Lana'i, and geothermal from Hawai'i can help feed the Honolulu demand. There isn't space anywhere on Oahu for the size of windfarm needed, Alm said.Current cable technology can't handle the more than two-mile depth of the Ka'ie'iewaho Channel, so Kaua'i has certain challenges that the interconnectability of the other islands helps solve.

KIUC sees a long-term role for liquid fuels at least as a backup for intermittent alternative energy sources, but that fuel can be biodiesel, said Randy Hee, KIUC president.Both companies are pushing forward on smart metering, which Alm said can mean lower rates for people who actively shift their power demands to the utility's low-demand periods.That capability will “allow us to reward you,” Alm said.

Hee said KIUC is in the “selection analysis” process for (get familiar with this term) AMI. That's Advanced Metering Infrastructure. Depending on what system is selected, this allows all sorts of advances on the grid—including the aggressive addition of intermittent green power options.Both Alm and Hee said their organizations are also ready to back “feed-in tariffs.” That's another term to get used to.

It refers to a guaranteed rate of return for alternative power production, even if it is, for now, higher than the current cost of oil-produced energy.Feed-in tariffs in the short term can mean slightly higher power rates. But in Europe they have resulted in fast increases in solar, wind and other alternative energy production, and the long term value is stabilized power rates and reduced vulnerability to oil price fluctuations.