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Kauai utility pitches accelerated path to 100% carbon-free power by 2033
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Summary
Kauai Island Utility Cooperative told the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection it aims for 100% carbon-free power by 2033, citing two large solar-plus-battery projects, existing battery capacity and federal tax credits that together could cut fossil fuel use and customer exposure to oil-price volatility.
Chair Loewen convened the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection on April 16 for an informational briefing that included a presentation from David Bissell, president and CEO of Kauai Island Utility Cooperative. Bissell said KIUC has set a board-driven goal of reaching 100% carbon-free electricity by 2033, well ahead of the state target.
Bissell said KIUC is currently about 51% renewable on an energy basis and has procured roughly 80 MW of utility-scale solar. He described two large, shovel-ready projects — a 43 MW PV array and a 35 MW project on state (ADC) land — that together would add about 40% of the island’s expected energy and, if built, could bring the island to nearly 90% solar-powered supply by 2029. “We hit a 100% frequently on the island. Our record time is 10 hours in a row that we ran without a drop of oil being used,” Bissell said during his presentation.
Bissell detailed KIUC’s storage position: the cooperative currently operates about 47 MW of battery capacity with roughly 222 MWh of energy storage and has nearly 108 MW more storage in development. He said these batteries and additional projects reduce the need for emergency load shedding and provide day-to-day reliability benefits. KIUC also plans to convert older generators into synchronous condensers to supply inertia and voltage support when they are not burning fuel.
On fuels and dispatch, Bissell said the Kauai fleet includes a biomass plant that was underperforming in the prior year but could contribute up to about 10% of island generation if it returns to full output. He estimated that one of the large solar projects would offset about 180 million gallons of fossil fuel over 25 years and produce “almost $400,000,000” in savings for the island over the project lifetime, helped in part by federal investment tax credits.
Bissell acknowledged limitations: Kauai lacks strong wind and geothermal resources and must manage land-use tradeoffs for large PV arrays. He described KIUC’s project approach — the utility finds sites and shares development risk with private developers — and said the cooperative has relied on federal and state incentives to keep project costs manageable.
The presentation ended with Bissell available for committee questions about demand-side programs, biomass sourcing and agrivoltaic approaches; he said KIUC offers rebates and incentives and is exploring ag-solar designs that preserve agricultural uses beneath elevated panels. The committee indicated it will continue the conversation through interim work and follow-up requests to presenters.
The cooperative’s presentation underscores a local utility case study in rapid renewable adoption and points to storage, project siting and procurement design as practical constraints for islands seeking high shares of solar and batteries.
