PSIP Resource Plan: December 2016

The Hawaiian Electric Companies are at the forefront of integrating renewable resources onto their electric power grids. By statute, they must achieve a 100% Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) by 2045. We have been honored to work with them on a series of resource plans for attaining that goal.

The Power Supply Improvement Plan—a resource plan ordered and named by the Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission— for December 2016 continued the analysis started and reported on in the April 2016 PSIP. Unlike past resource plans, only one PSIP was published under the Companies’ One Company initiative. The December 2016 PSIP aggressively pursued integrating renewable energy into the generation mix, explaining how 100% RPS could be attained by 2030.

The PSIP team consisted of Company resource planners and several consultants including E3, Ascend Analytics, HD Baker & Company, and Solari. To create this plan, the PSIP team used three different modeling tools—RESOLVE, PowerSimm Planner, and PLEXOS— to develop, compare, and contrast a number of different resource mixes based on the same set of input assumptions. The planning process also included about two dozen intervenors admitted to the docket by the Public Utilities Commission.

PSIP Resource Plan: April 2016

Smart Grid Foundation Project

Implementing Smart Grid across the five service islands—O‘ahu, Maui, Hawai‘i Island, Lana‘i, and Moloka‘i—involves detailed planning and extensive coordination. Smart Grid holds an integral position in the Hawaiian Electric Companies attaining the state’s agressive 100% RPS in 30 years.

Power Supply Improvement Plans: 2014

The 2014 Power Supply Improvement Plans took the 2013 IRP to a deeper level of resource planning. The PSIPs examined the current state of their respective systems, and clearly outlined how each electric grid would incorporate renewable energy into its power supply mix over the next 15 years. The results were landmark: the consolidated electricity generated from renewable resources would increase to approximately 67% by 2030 while reducing the average full-service customer’s bill by 22% in real dollars.

Rich acted as lead writer and editor-in-chief of the three PSIPs, coordinating the contents, writing a detailed outline, scheduling milestones, and assimilating input from all staff involved in planning and creating the report. He ensured the three plans were thorough, accurate, clearly written, well designed, met Commission requirements, and of course, filed on time.

Each operating utility of the Hawaiian Electric Companies filed their own PSIP report and set of appendices.

Integrated Demand Response Portfolio Plan Executive Summary

Hawaiian Electric, working with an outside consultant, created a portfolio of demand response programs, then detailed this plan in their IDRPP. The plan detailed the role of demand response for the Hawaiian Electric grids, the principles guiding a demand response portfolio, the method for developing demand response programs, how demand response could provide ancillary services, and the descriptions and applications of several demand response programs.

Smart Grid Roadmap & Business Case

Working with executives, engineers, and an outside consulting firm, we designed and completely rewrote the report for the Commission. The task was to write a narrative that the average customer, the media, and other stakeholders could read and understand about smart grid and how it would affect them. The Roadmap described the technologies included in the Smart Grid implementation: Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) supported the actual smart meters; Volt/VAR Optimization (VVO) enables operators to precisely control voltages; Distribution Automation enables pointpoint detection and isolation of outages.

Integrated Resource Plan (IRP) Report—2013

The Hawaiian Electric Companies contracted with Solari President Rich Maggiani to write and create their 2013 Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) Report. The process included the three utilities—Hawaiian Electric Company, Maui Electric Company, and Hawai‘i Electric Light Company—as well as a number of other interested parties.

The year-long project included 21 day-long meetings with an independent 68-person Advisory Group of energy consultants and groups, with members of the Hawaiian Public Utilities Commission attending every meeting. The Advisory Group was overseen by an Independent Entity. Numerous public meetings were help on the Hawaiian islands.

Reliability Standards Working Group Report Executive Summary

The Hawai‘i Public Utilities Commission (PUC) formed the Reliability Standards Working Group (RSWG) to ensure the reliability of Hawaiian Electric’s generation and transmission across the give service islands: O‘ahu, Maui, Moloka‘i, Lana‘i, and Hawai‘i Island. This group included professional from within the company, a number of private and public organizations, and members of state government. Even Governor Neil Abercrombie expressed deep interest in the group's important work, attending its final meeting.

One of the projects undertaken by the RSWG was a Generation and Cycling Study. The final study report was extensive and technical. The RSWG coordinator contracted with Solari to write an Executive Summary that could be quickly understood by a wide audience who were not privy to intricate industry jargon and other information.