Home to approximately 150,000 people with an additional 20,000+ tourists per day. The current energy consumption per capita is approximately equally divided between transportation and electricity. Electricity is generated on the island: its electric grid is standalone. Compared to the mainland, the Big Island does not seem do so badly in terms of renewable electricity generation: 30% of electricity generation comes from geothermal, wind, solar and hydro. But, perhaps it is surprising that this percentage is not higher. Sun and wind resources are good on the island, hydro is available and with all its volcanic activity, you would expect geothermal to be much bigger than it is. The other 70% of electricity is created in powerplants that run on fossil fuel, and these plants are not very efficient. Consequently, the Big Island of Hawaii imports a lot of oil.The current high costs of oil is paid for by Big Island consumers. This last May, electricity was sold for around 40 cents per KWh, for example, which is five (!) times what consumers pay, for example, in Northern California. This high price may be a blessing in disguise: the county, and the state of Hawaii as a whole, is increasingly motivated to reduce its dependence on oil imports. Geothermal power plants, wind farms, solar PV and hydroelectricity are the main energy resources being explored.

We take you on a tour of the island to discuss the history of energy production on the island, to understand the current portfolio, and to explore future directions. My guest in this interview is Dr. Terry Surles. Terry is the program lead for technology integration and policy analysis at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute. He previously has held a number of leadership positions in the broad area of energy and environmental systems analysis, research, and development including Vice President for both Environment and Electricity Innovations at the Electric Power Research Institute, and Deputy Secretary for Science and Technology at Cal/EPA. Terry is extremely knowledgeable about the Hawaiian energy situation and provides a great overview of issues facing the Big Island.