HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0778.003 2010-2012Jay M. Ignacio, P.E.
President
Councilman Dominic Yagong
Chair District 1
25 Aupuni Street
Hilo, HI 96720
Dear Chairman Yagong,
C.oa 1.'178 - 17/001111UCti.
Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc. • PO Box 1027 • Hilo, HI 96721 -1027
July 31, 2012
Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the second draft of resolution 277.
First, I would like to state that Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO) is in agreement with the
resolution's desire to increase the amount of renewable energy used on the Big Island. We are
already leading the State in the use of renewable energy with 41 % of the electric energy on the
Island of Hawaii, being from renewable resources in 2011. Currently, there is a total of 15.2
MWs (8.0% of our system peak load) of photovoltaic and wind systems already interconnected
to our distribution systems. Such high penetration of distributed generation makes HELCO one
of the leaders in the United States for photovoltaic interconnections.
Though we share a strong desire to move our Island even further with renewable resources, we
still must ensure that there are no electric reliability or safety issues for our customers when
there are high levels of photovoltaic installations concentrated in an area. The current draft of
Resolution 277 encourages the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission ( "PUC ") to raise the feeder
penetration threshold from 15% of peak load to 100% of minimum load. This is taken to mean
that the utility will not perform any checks or studies and will allow photovoltaic installations to
proceed until photovoltaic installations approach 100% of the circuits minimum day peak load.
This is a significant change to current rules, and we perceive with its adoption potential hazards
to all our customers. However, HELCO is willing to participate in a process overseen by the
PUC that reviews this proposal.
The resolution also requests that the PUC hold public hearings in Kailua -Kona and Hilo on this
subject matter. HELCO will be a willing participant should there be public hearings conducted
by the PUC and we will continue to work with industry experts, our customers and the
Commission to improve interconnection procedures.
Sincerely,
President
Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc.
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