Hawaiian Electric CEO cites Hawaii successes at climate change panel chaired by Sen. Schatz
Release Date: 6/28/2019
HONOLULU, June 28, 2019 – Alan Oshima, president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric Company, was one of five utility executives who met in Washington, D.C. this week with the Special Senate Committee on the Climate Crisis chaired by U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii.
Oshima described the company's leadership in the transition to renewable energy and how the successful replacement of fossil fuels over the next decade will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to nearly half what they were in 2010.
The company also expects its renewable portfolio standard to reach close to 70 percent by 2030, up from 27 percent today.
Oshima stressed that collaboration between the utility and the communities it serves, including customers, businesses, regulators, environmental advocates and other stakeholders, is essential in achieving ambitious goals like Hawaii's 100 percent renewable energy and carbon-neutral mandates.
"Even though Hawaii's contribution to worldwide carbon emissions is small, our state and Hawaiian Electric have shown outsized leadership," he said. "One of my messages is that by all of us working together, Hawaii is showing how to get it done."
Along with Hawaiian Electric, leaders of Portland General Electric, Pacific Gas & Electric, National Grid-Rhode Island and Great River Energy of Minnesota participated in the Senate discussion on Wednesday.
"Today our committee heard from utility leaders who are at the center of the clean energy revolution," Senator Schatz said after the meeting. "Across the country, utilities are integrating renewable energy into their grids at levels we thought were impossible just a few years ago, disproving myths about its viability, and showing the world what's possible when we set a goal and work toward meeting it."
