Isles' energy future on the line at Legislature
While politics and pure costs loom as important obstacles, the 2006 Hawai'i Legislature still has the opportunity to create policy this year that could lead to a vastly improved and far more sustainable energy policy for this state.
The key will be bipartisan cooperation and an understanding that energy security will require innovation and sacrifice from all parties involved.
It's time to put partisan politics aside.
A progressive energy policy must include:
A hybrid option remains alive. Under this plan, consumers would pick up part of the cost of higher oil prices, but the utilities would have to shoulder the rest.
It's far from perfect, but ultimately would act as an incentive for the utilities to find energy alternatives, presumably more stable, local and potentially cheaper sources of energy.
But the ethanol industry needs greater up-front support in the form of land-use guarantees and established markets to truly give it the jumpstart it needs.
One way to create a stronger market is to mandate that government vehicles take the lead in converting to ethanol or other biofuels. And government should also take the lead in building or maintaining energy-efficient buildings.
The utilities are ready to move in this direction, but they also deserve a commission that is trained and equipped to deal with the new regulatory challenges such changes would present.
And it might be time to re-examine the rule that has utilities paying "avoided" (oil) costs for alternative sources of energy.
That might have made sense in the 1970s, but in today's climate, with alternative energy technology moving ahead, it makes little sense to require utilities to pay as much for alternative energy as they do for oil.
ROADBLOCKS AHEAD
Standing in the way of these and other ideas are two critical elements: politics and cost.
In an election year, everyone is eager to grab what credit he or she can and deny as much credit to the other side as possible, whether the issue is energy, education or the economy.
Given the critical need to move toward energy self-sufficiency, political gamesmanship is an unconscionable waste of time. Taxpayers deserve better.
Tax credits and money for research and other initiatives will not come cheap. But it's an investment in Hawai'i's future — one that we can't afford to let slip by.
Consider the state's own energy bill. This year alone, lawmakers will have to approve roughly $17 million in "emergency" electrical costs because of higher prices.
This could be the year to put Hawai'i on the map in terms of energy innovation and sustainability. Let's not miss this opportunity.
