Hawaii To Ban New Coal

Hawaii looks like it is getting serious about alternative energy. Almost 90% of electricity comes from imported fuel. That makes renewables a whole lot more attractive.

Though Hawaii announced its goal of producing 70% of its total energy needs from renewable sources by 2030 back in January, the program got further support yesterday with the announcement that a “historic accord” has been reached between the current state government and the Hawaiian Electric Company.

Though the details of many of the agreements points have yet to be worked out, what is planned is certainly a step in the right direction. Here they are:

Ban on Coal Plants, Increased RPS, Feed-in-Tariff Creation, Biofuels
The current Renewable Portfolio Standard for electricity is doubled to 40% by 2030.

A new feed-in-tariff system will be created to encourage renewable energy installation. Details on how much different renewable energy technologies will be receiving have not been disclosed.

Hawaii already requires solar hot water heaters on new construction. The feed in tariff is a big boost to renewables. I wish the feds would require that of all utilities.