Progress and Plans
September 2004: Governor Linda Lingle signed a law requiring at least 85 percent of Hawai‘i’s gasoline to contain 10 percent ethanol beginning in April 2006. Read a news release.
January 2006: Governor Lingle announced a bold and strategic energy plan, which encourages and supports market-based development of reliable, cost-effective, and self-reliant energy for Hawai‘i. This marked the beginning of Hawai‘i’s Energy For Tomorrow effort. Read a news release.
Mid-2006: Governor Lingle signed four bills that launched Hawai‘i forward in her Energy For Tomorrow initiative. The legislation mandated a focus on clean energy use and energy efficiency by state government, required necessary changes in the energy regulation sector, offered tax incentives for renewable energy and provided funding for renewable projects.
October 2007: The U.S. Department of Energy assigned a senior energy specialist to work with the State of Hawai‘i to help implement the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s Energy for Tomorrow program. Read a news release.
June 2007: Governor Lingle signed the Global Warming Solutions Act, which established a task force to assess greenhouse gas emissions in Hawai‘i and develop a regulatory scheme to significantly reduce emissions. The statewide objective is to collectively reduce emissions to the 1990 level by the year 2020.
July 2007: Governor Linda Lingle announced that the Public Utilities Commission opened an investigative docket to explore ways for state and local government facilities to purchase electricity from renewable energy sources from providers other than the electric utility. Read a news release.
January 2008: Governor Lingle announced an historic plan to develop large solar power arrays at 12 locations. Under the plan, the state Department of Transportation is soliciting proposals from private companies to develop photovoltaic systems that could generate as much as 34 megawatts of electricity at 11 DOT sites, as well as the Hawai‘i Foreign-Trade Zone in downtown Honolulu. Read a news release.
January 2008: State targets 11 government buildings on four islands – including the State Capitol – as priorities for “retrocommissioning” and will identify opportunities to save energy in state buildings and reduce operating costs. Read a news release.
January 2008: Governor Lingle and U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Alexander Karsner signed a Memorandum of Understanding establishing the Hawai’i Clean Energy Initiative, a long-term partnership designed to accelerate the transformation of Hawai’i into one of the world’s first economies based primarily on clean energy resources. Hawai‘i is the only state to have such a partnership with the DOE. The goal of the Hawai‘i Clean Energy Initiative is to use renewable resources – such as wind, sun, ocean, geothermal, and bioenergy – to supply 70 percent or more of Hawai‘i’s energy needs by 2030. Read more.
January 2008: Hawai‘i hosts the Major Economies Meeting on Global Security and Climate Change, attended by officials from the world’s 16 largest economies and the United Nations and European Union. Governor Lingle gives opening remarks and shares the progress and plans for clean energy in Hawai‘i, sharing that the state aims to be a model for the world. Watch the Governor's remarks at this meeting.
February 2008: Governor Lingle hosts a news conference for the announcement of the nation’s first wave energy project, which will consist of floating platforms off the coast of Maui that can produce enough power for 2,700 homes. Watch this news conference.
February 2008: The National Governor’s Association Annual Conference is held in Washington, D.C. with the focus of “Securing a Clean Energy Future.” Governor Lingle is one of eight Governors on a special task force focused on energy solutions for America.
March 2008: Ted Liu, director of the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism and David Rodgers, deputy assistant secretary for energy efficiency of the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency discuss the progress that has been made in the Hawai`i Clean Energy Initiative. Watch the briefing.
March 2008: Governor Lingle holds a news conference with the director of the National Renewable Energy Laboratory to announce a public-private partnership as part of the Administration's ongoing efforts to increase Hawai`i's energy independence. Watch the news conference.
April 2008: Governor Lingle and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Assistant Secretary for Electricity Delivery and Energy Reliability Kevin Kolevar announced the selection of a Hawai`i project as part of a nationwide demonstration to modernize the country's electricity grid system. Watch the news conference.
June 2008, Governor Lingle signed into law a bill to increase the use of one of Hawai`i's most abundant renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on imported oil. Read more.
June 2008: Governor Lingle emphasized the critical need for energy independence at a ceremony to "flip the switch" and begin the operations of a new photovoltaic system at the Navy's Halsey Terrace Community Center in Honolulu. Watch her remarks and read more about this event.
July 2008: Governor Lingle highlighted the importance of clean and renewable energy while visiting the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Denver, Colorado. Read more and view photos.
