PUC opens stakeholder docket on intergovernmental electricity “wheeling”; Hawaiian Electric outlines technical and economic considerations

Anant Subtani, a Public Utilities Commission staff member, opened a hybrid stakeholder meeting on the commission’s investigatory docket 2024-0200, saying the PUC would examine whether intergovernmental electricity "wheeling" is in the public interest and would proceed through outreach, discovery and a decision phase.

Hawaiian Electric presenters, led by Peter Young, director of pricing in the company’s regulatory group, told attendees that wheeling could allow government customers to use remote government‑owned land to develop renewables and could offer customer choice and potential cost reductions. “Wheeling should increase renewable energy for the benefit of the entire community,” Young said, while cautioning that safety and reliable grid operation must not be compromised.

Stakeholders and commissioners pressed for more details on interconnection, cost allocation and billing treatment. Mike Angelo, executive director of the Division of Consumer Advocacy, asked how new generation would be modeled for resiliency and what additional costs would be associated with injecting power at one point and receiving benefits elsewhere. Commissioner Colin Yost urged a simple, transparent economic structure, arguing that “electrons are gonna flow to the nearest load” and recommending the commission focus on reasonable cost of accepting power rather than attempting to trace physical flows.

Participants debated terminology and the practical framing of wheeling. PUC staff proposed using the Energy Information Administration’s broad definition as a starting point, but multiple stakeholders said mainland definitions may not suit Hawaii’s grid and favored defining common transactional characteristics (for example, whether the program is an accounting/credit mechanism versus a literal physical transfer).

The PUC summarized results from a stakeholder questionnaire: 11 government organizations responded; most indicated interest in wheeling within their own organizations, many expressed uncertainty about potential costs, and about one‑third showed interest in storage for later delivery. Stakeholders asked follow‑up questions on the quantity and locations of government land available for renewables, potential tiers by project size, and whether storage or batteries would change project classification.

Hawaiian Electric said interconnection studies and requirements would apply regardless of owner and that program design could draw on existing distributed energy resource (DER) tariffs, IPP/PPA structures and the community‑based renewable energy (CBRE) and microgrid tariffs already in Hawaiian Electric’s tariffs. The utility described billing/credit approaches as likely tariff transactions where meeting conditions entitles participants to benefits.

PUC staff outlined next steps and scheduling: the commission plans to file statement‑of‑issues for stakeholder input, develop a procedural schedule and convene monthly stakeholder meetings beginning late January or early February. Staff indicated a decision‑phase timeline that would allow the commission to report findings to the legislature after additional analysis and potential pilot design; no formal votes or policy decisions were taken at the meeting.

The meeting closed with the PUC inviting written statements and additional information on land availability, potential project tiers and cost questions so staff and stakeholders can refine a working definition of wheeling and evaluate whether a pilot or formal framework should be pursued.