image from Hawaiian Electric’s 2022-23 Corporate Sustainability Report, “Building a Strong and Resilient Hawaiʻi Together.”

(BIVN) – More renewable generation was added to the Hawaiian Electric grid, about half of the utility company’s customers have upgraded from an analog to an advanced meter, and the use of coal to produce power has been ended. Such events are highlighted in Hawaiian Electric’s 2022-23 Sustainability Report, “Building a Strong and Resilient Hawaiʻi Together”, now online. 

From a Hawaiian Electric news release:

By the end of 2022, 37% of single-family homes across the five islands Hawaiian Electric serves had rooftop solar, Oʻahu’s first grid-scale solar and storage project was online, and the state’s last remaining coal plant was retired.

That’s the kind of progress outlined in Hawaiian Electric’s 2022-23 Corporate Sustainability Report, “Building a Strong and Resilient Hawaiʻi Together,” now online.

Included in the report are generation maps that feature nearly a dozen utility-scale renewable energy projects that are scheduled to be completed between now and 2025, an example of the company’s continued work on its Climate Change Action Plan. The plan outlines steps being taken to reduce carbon emissions from power generation by as much as 70% by 2030.

Among the 2022-23 report’s highlights:

• More renewable generation was added to Hawaiian Electric’s island grids, including Clearway Energy’s two solar and storage facilities on Oʻahu – Mililani I Solar and Waiawa Solar Power. In 2022, more than 4,400 new private solar systems, mostly residential rooftop, were installed companywide, and 91% of new rooftop solar installations included battery storage.

• The company marked a major milestone in its Climate Change Action Plan by ending the use of coal for power generation. The retirement of the AES coal plant at the end of a 30-year contract eliminated one of the state’s largest emitters of greenhouse gases.

• About 50% of customers on Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island and Maui have upgraded from an analog to an advanced meter, allowing them to better monitor energy use and manage bills.

• Nearly 2,500 volunteers, including employees, their families and friends, logged more than 6,588 hours in service to communities.