Former U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu lashes out at Hawaiian Electric

A Forbes article by Steven Chu:

Utility companies have been looking for new regulations and higher connection charges to save them from a “death spiral” spurred by a surge in rooftop solar installations. Instead, says former Energy Secretary Steven Chu, they should get into the rooftop solar business.

Utilities are in danger of being FedExed, Chu said, “like the Post Office got FedExed,” as rooftop solar modules drop in price.

“The cost of modules has plummeted. In California where I live, that means for $10,000 you can generate a lot of electricity. The cost of batteries is plummeting, so that in five maybe 10 years at the outside, a $10,000 or $12,000 system will allow me to go, on average, 80 percent off grid.

“That’s pretty exciting. So this is a technology that could be disruptive to electricity production and generation.”

The article asserts that HECO has sought to “shut down” rooftop solar in Hawai’i.

The Grid Modernization bill that raises caps on rooftop solar is currently making its way through the Hawai’i legislature and is strongly supported by the Sierra Club.

Chu called HECO’s argument that allowing more rooftop PV will cause grid instability “bullshit”.

“Instead of that, you need a better business model,” Chu said. “So I’m telling utility companies, this is coming down the line, so let’s think of a new business model where you can profit from this.”

In Chu’s business model, utilities will borrow money—because “utility companies get to borrow money as inexpensively as just about anyone in the United States”—to buy rooftop solar modules and batteries. Then they’ll partner with private rooftop-solar installation firms—”because I don’t expect a utility company to figure out how to do that”—to install rooftop panels and batteries at customer homes.

The utility will own the panels and batteries and sell electricity to the customers at a much lower rate.

Customers would not only get lower rates, they would get solar power without having to pay for installation, Chu said, and they would get a battery backup that can keep the lights on and the refrigerator running for up to a week in a power outage.

Utility companies, meanwhile, would benefit from a distributed network of panels and batteries “where they need it the most, at the end of the distribution system, for grid stability.”

Chu’s idea allows utility companies to expand without installing new transmission lines, completing environmental impact reports, “and all of that stuff,” he said.