The Senate HONOLULU. HAWAI-I" 96818 September 8, 2020 Mr. Scott Glenn Hawaii State Energy Office 235 S. Beretania, Rm. 502 Honolulu, HI 96813 Aloha Mr. Glenn, ‘As you know better than most, the goal of achieving 100 % renewable energy on every island grid throughout the state is a daunting challenge and will require us to utilize every renewable technology available to succeed, especially as saturation of intermittent renewables, such as solar rooftops and utility- scale solar projects will eventually reach a point at which the reliability of the grid will be jeopardized. Although many profess to support an agnostic approach to deploying renewable technologies, we know that too often the RPS goal takes a back seat to personal or group preferences and predispositions and that if the only projects approved are those with 100% community support, few projects would be built ‘When we crafted Act 122 in 2019 to establish the Energy Office, we purposely attached the entity to the Department of Economic Development and Tourism to reinforce the goal that the Energy Office focus on economic development and jobs, utilizing renewable energy as a nexus. With energy expenditures representing one-vighth of Hawaii’s economy, this industry can also represent a way for renewable energy development to lead the state out of the current economic crisis. As we shepherded the measure through the legislative process, we envisioned the chief energy officer as ‘an advocate for all renewable energy projects, someone who would aggressively facilitate and support ‘every type of project through the arduous approval processes and scrutiny they must undergo. This support would include advocating for and prioritizing renewable energy’s role in long-term permanent jobs creation and becoming a champion for job-producing energy projects before other state departments. To advocate for renewable projects should also mean encouraging state agencies to consider balancing their own priorities with the state’s RPS policy mandate and to do so in a timely manner to ‘ensure we get as much renewable energy on the grid as quickly as possible in order to retire fossil fuel power plants expeditiously. ‘The purpose of §196-71 establishing the state energy office, and §196-72 establishing the chief energy officer and duties were to, in part, promote renewable energy to achieve a resilient clean energy economy.September 8, 2020 Page 2 of 3 In particular, we call your attention to these relevant provisions in the following sections of the law: §196-7 (3) Provide renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy resiliency, and clean transportation project deployment facilitation to assist private sector project completion when aligned with state energy goals: and (4) Engage the private sector to help lead efforts to achieve renewable energy and clean transportation goals through the Hawaii clean energy initiative. (©) The Hawaii state energy office shall be the State's primary government entity for supporting the clean energy initiative. §196-72: (@) Subject to the approval of the governor, the ray officer shall: (5) Identify market gaps and innovation opportunities, collaborate with stakeholders, and facili public-private partnerships to develop projects, programs, and tools to encourage private and public exploration, research, and development of energy resources, distributed energy resources, and data analytics that will support the State's energy and decarbonization goals: (13) Advocate for the State's enerzy and decarbonization goals at relevant venues and departments including but not limited to the public utilities commission, legislature, and division of consumer advocacy. to ensure that state energy policies and regulations align with the state strategic goals and are data-driven; (4) Support economic development and innovation initiatives related to and resulting from the State's renewable energy and distributed energy resources experience, capabilities, and data analyses; (3) E efficient, expedited permitting of energy efficiency, renewable energy, clean transportation, and energy resiliency projects by: (A) Coordinating and aligning state and county departments and agencies to support, expedite, and remove barriers to deployment of energy initiatives and projects; ‘There is currently a renewable energy project, Honua Ola Bioenergy, that needs your strong advocacy. Yet we have seen nothing in the way of public support or encouragement from the Energy Office for the PUC to reconsider its recent decision. If allowed to stand, this decision will effectively end this project, ‘even though it can be ready to produce clean renewable energy this year and increase the number of jobs in its operation to more than 200 at the plant and in the ancillary industries Honua Ola will support for the next 30 years. Honua Ola will also enable the state to reach its overarching goal, the immediate reduction in fossil fuel plants on Hawaii [sland and the attendant reduction of GHG and do so in two ways. First, the above- ‘mentioned retirement of GHG-emitting fossil fuel plants will decrease the overall GHG emissions. Second, by planting more trees than it harvests, Honua Ola will become carbon negative, not only sequestering the carbon dioxide it emits, but also, reducing existing CO2 from other sources, Moreover, this project far exceeds the workforce benefits of the RFP Phase I and II projects that have been awarded by Hawaiian Electric. While these projects provide only one or two permanent jobs after construction, Honua Ola, which provided more than 400 jobs over a period of years during construction,September 8, 2020 Page 3 of 3 will create more than 200 good-paying jobs for at least 30 years in plant operations, transportation, forestry, and wood-product manufacturing It is clear that due to the more than 100,000 currently unemployed and the dire economic forecast due to the situation the state is facing from the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the 100,000 jobs that DBEDT comiitted to create in SR78 this year, the State Energy Office must do more to secure this asset. ‘As we see that the HSEO has filed comments on other dockets such as Docket Number 2020-0090, the ‘Hawaiian Electric Company amendment to Petroleum Fuel Supply Contract with Par Hawaii Refining, LLC rate increase, we also note that its comments are absent in the Hu Honua docket. We would appreciate you helping us understand what efforts you have undertaken to date on this matter and what you will do immediately to advocate for this project. Because your office has an important role to play in the state’s economic diversification, we would also like to have an update on the accomplishments, goals and details of your office’s plan to excute the intent of the statute, particularly as it relates to permanent, non-construction jobs, and any ambiguities that need clarification to help us determine any changes to the statute needed, Please provide us this information by Friday, September 11, 2020. Sincerely, Limba D> Senator Glenn Wakai Chair, Senate Committee on Energy, Economic Development and Tourism Senator Donovan Dela Cruz, Chair, Senate Ways and Means