New PUC Chair Hermina Morita By Henry Curtis Hermina M. Morita was born on Moloka`i September 2, 1954, raised on Lana`i and lives on Kaua`i. She graduated from Kamehameha Schools, and briefly attended both the University of Hawaii and George Washington University. Mina was elected to the State House in 1997, representing Hanalei, Anahola, Kealia, Kapaa and Waipouli. She […]
Dept of Energy Working on Utility Scale Solar
DOE’s Audacious Goal: “SunShot” Earlier this month, Energy Secretary Steven Chu announced details of the Department of Energy’s “SunShot” initiative to bring the total costs of utility-scale solar energy systems down about 75 percent—to roughly $1 a watt—by 2020. RMI is helping bring focus to the goal, facilitating a DOE workshop in Washington, D.C., last week […]
Ku’oko’a continues to attempt takeover of HEI
By Henry Curtis Ku’oko’a announced that it wanted to buy Hawaiian Electric Industries (HEI), the owner of three of the four electric utilities in the State: HECO (O`ahu County), MECO (Maui County) and HELCO (Hawai`i County). Ku’oko’a plans to sell off HEI’s American Savings Bank and focus on replacing HECO’s, MECO’s and HELCO’s diesel and […]
EIS for Undersea Cable
Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for the Hawai‘i Interisland Renewable Energy Program: Wind The EIS will assess the foreseeable environmental impacts which may arise from the development of wind-generated electric energy and the required improvements to the existing electric transmission infrastructure. DOE will hold public scoping meetings in the first quarter of 2011. Dates will be […]