“The Hawaii Postcard: Lessons on Grid Transformation”
ScottMadden, Inc., one of North America’s leading energy consulting firms, and the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA), an educational non-profit group, have released a report to share lessons learned for Hawaii’s grid transformation. The article, featured in the February 2016 issue of the Public Utilities Fortnightly magazine, provides an overview of the renewable energy market in Hawaii and reviews the transformation currently underway.
The evolving role of the Hawaiian utilities and the quickly changing solar market are, as officials there like to say, “postcards from the future” for mainland energy markets. The changes underway send a clear message about the solar market and what the mainland should expect in its future.
Driven by market forces and evolving customer demands, Hawaii has in a very short time integrated a significant amount of distributed renewables. This experience provides lessons to others on how to manage this transition: physical integration, stakeholder management, internal alignment, and customer focus. Utilities and regulators can either get ahead of the wave—with a focus on customer and grid solutions—or risk being overtaken by it.
Such insights are a few of the key takeaways that a group of nearly 20 utility and solar industry executives brought back from a recent fact-finding mission to Hawaii. This article builds on the “postcard” narrative and provides insight and understanding of Hawaii’s response to its booming solar market.
“Hawaii provides insights into the integration of high penetration of renewables,” said Chris Vlahoplus, partner and clean tech and sustainability practice leader. “One lesson is to approach these situations with a ‘test and adjust’ framework instead of the more conventional ‘prove and deploy’ strategy.”
Please contact us at info@scottmadden.com to schedule an interview with Mr. Vlahoplus, John Pang, partner at ScottMadden, or a representative from SEPA.
To schedule an interview with ScottMadden or SEPA, or to learn how we are helping our clients to understand the changing landscape, please contact us.
About Solar Electric Power Association
The Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) is an educational non-profit dedicated to helping utilities integrate solar power into their energy portfolios for the benefit of the utility, its customers, and the public good. With 900 utility and solar industry members, SEPA provides unbiased utility solar market intelligence, up-to-date information about technologies and business models, and peer-to-peer interaction. From hosting national events to providing utility strategies, SEPA helps utilities make smart solar decisions. For more information, visit www.solarelectricpower.org | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
About ScottMadden’s Clean Tech & Sustainability Practice
Leveraging our energy expertise, the ScottMadden Clean Tech & Sustainability practice helps our clients effectively navigate through the quickly changing energy landscape. We specialize in assisting our clients with sustainable energy strategies and making smart portfolio choices. We work with our clients to understand and effectively utilize cleaner, renewable sources of energy, such as nuclear, wind, solar, biomass, and biofuels. Our experienced team of energy practitioners understands the roles of energy efficiency, demand response, and storage as part of an integrated strategy. We also assist clients with sustainability, bringing an understanding of energy-unique concerns.
About ScottMadden, Inc.
ScottMadden is the management consulting firm that does what it takes to get it done right. Our practice areas include Energy, Clean Tech & Sustainability, Corporate & Shared Services, and Grid Transformation. We deliver a broad array of consulting services ranging from strategic planning through implementation across many industries, business units, and functions. To learn more, visit www.scottmadden.com | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn
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Media contact:
Mary Tew
marytew@www.scottmadden.com
919-714-7628