As part of the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative (“HCEI”) energy agreement and in order to improve analysis and guidance for Hawaii's clean energy future, the HCEI Parties agreed to replace the current Integrated Resource Planning (“IRP”) process with a new Clean Energy Scenario Planning (“CESP”) process. Please see pages 36-41 of the energy agreement for the details of this initiative.
On November 6, 2008, the Hawaiian Electric companies and the State Consumer Advocate filed a joint request to the Public Utilities Commission (“Commission”) requesting the HECO IRP-4 docket be closed, the HELCO IRP-4 filing be suspended, the MECO IRP-4 filing be suspended, and to open a new docket to establish the CESP process.
On November 26, 2008, the Commission closed the HECO IRP-4 and HELCO IRP-4 and suspended all activities pursuant to the IRP Framework. On December 8, 2008, the Commission similarly closed the MECO IRP-4. The closing of the IRP dockets was to allow for resources to be diverted to development of a CESP framework and the Commission's preference was to revise the IRP Framework to develop the proposed CESP framework.
On April 28, 2009, the Hawaiian Electric Companies, Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (“KIUC”), and the Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs (“Consumer Advocate”) requested that the Commission open an investigatory docket to review and establish a CESP Framework that revised the previous IRP Framework and proposes a planning process to develop generation and transmission resource plan options for multiple 20-year planning scenarios and a 5-year Action Plan based on the range of resource needs identified through the various scenarios analyzed.
On May 14, 2009, the Commission issued its Order Initiating Investigation, initiating an investigative proceeding to examine the proposed amendments to the IRP Framework, as set forth in the April 28, 2009 letter from the Hawaiian Electric Companies, KIUC, and the Consumer Advocate. The Order Initiating Investigation also set forth intervention deadlines and time periods by which a protective order and stipulated procedural order, as applicable, shall be filed.
The following entities were granted intervention status by the Order Granting Intervention filed on July 1, 2009 in this docket: the Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism (“DBEDT”), County of Hawaii, County of Maui, County of Kauai, Life of the Land (“LOL”), Haiku Design and Analysis (“HDA”), Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance (“HREA”), Blue Planet Foundation (“Blue Planet”), Hawaii Solar Energy Association (“HSEA”), JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa, Waikoloa Marriott Beach Resort & Spa, Maui Ocean Club, Wailea Marriott, and Marriott Hotel Services, Inc., on behalf of Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club (collectively “Marriotts”), and Forest City Hawaii Residential, Inc. (“Forest City”) (collectively “Intervenors”). On October 2, 2009, Forest City submitted a motion with the Commission requesting that its status in the docket be amended from intervenor to participant. On October 26, 2009, the Commission issued its Order Granting Forest City Hawaii Residential, Inc.'s Motion for Approval to Amend its Status as an Intervenor to a Participant.
Pursuant to the Order Granting Intervention, on July 29, 2009, the Hawaiian Electric Companies, KIUC, the Consumer Advocate, and the Intervenors (collectively, “Parties”) filed a Proposed Stipulated Procedural Order (“Proposed SPO”) setting forth the issues, procedures and schedule to govern the proceedings of the docket. All Parties, with the exception of LOL, stipulated to the Proposed SPO. On September 11, 2009, a revised stipulated procedural order was filed with the Commission for its consideration and approval. The revised stipulated procedural order clarified the position of LOL on the Proposed SPO, and made a minor modification to the procedural schedule. On September 23, 2009, the Commission filed its Order Approving the Stipulated Procedural Order, As Modified, approving the revised stipulated procedural order with modifications to the Statement of the Issues in Section I; the Stipulated Procedural Schedule in Exhibit A; and the number of copies to be filed with the Commission, set forth in Section II.C. The Commission modified the Statement of the Issues to the following:
1.
What are the objectives of CESP and how do they differ from the objectives of IRP?
2.
What is the basis for each of the proposed changes to the IRP process, and are these changes reasonable and in the public interest?
3.
Whether the proposed changes to the IRP process should include changes to reflect differences between electric cooperatives and investor-owned utilities?
4.
What should be the role of the state's public benefits fee administrator?
Pursuant to the Order Approving the Stipulated Procedural Order, as Modified, the parties filed their Preliminary Statement of Position on October 2, 2009 and recently filed their Final Statement of Position on December 21, 2009. The Commission has scheduled a Panel Hearing for this docket for the week of February 8, 2010.
The Hawaiian Electric Companies have proposed the inclusion of Locational Value Maps (“LVM”) as part of the new Clean Energy Scenario Planning process. The LVM is envisioned to be an informational visualization tool that will identify geographic areas of distribution system growth within the next 3-5 years where distributed resources and energy efficiency could be beneficial within the existing transmission and distribution system limits. The LVM is also envisioned to identify at a point in time, the level of distributed generation on distribution circuits as a percentage of peak circuit load in a general geographic area.
To learn more about the proposed locational value maps, click on these links.
