PUC, Hawaiian Electric discuss intergovernmental "wheeling" framework, technical and billing hurdles

The Public Utilities Commission and Hawaiian Electric on a third stakeholder meeting reviewed options to enable "wheeling" — the transfer of generation from government-owned or -controlled sites into the grid for consumption at separate utility accounts — and outlined next steps for technical studies, billing design and agency engagement.

PUC Commissioner Yost framed the proceeding as moving toward a faster, more targeted phase of work: "we are going to make an effort to accelerate the pace of progress in this proceeding and, not spend as much time, in general discussion, but but really try to get more to into the specifics of things that people may actually be able to agree to," he said, urging more detailed engagement from state and county land-holding agencies to identify candidate sites.

Why it matters: The commission is seeking a workable process to let government entities develop renewable generation on land they control and convey energy value to other government sites or beneficiary accounts. Stakeholders said that any program must address (1) how interconnection will be analyzed and timed, (2) how compensation for wheeled energy will be calculated and administered within utility billing systems, and (3) how to reduce development risk and uncertainty so projects can be built at scale.

Hawaiian Electric staff described the technical background the utility uses to screen and…