Pricing new energy inputs into electrical supply in Hawaii
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission is now engaged in preparing regulations to implement Act 102 of the 1977 Hawaii State Legislature and the 1978 Federal Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA). The US statute largely preempts the field and sets the framework for determining the price of alternate energy. Deadline for the imposition of the rules is March 1981. Two categories of alternate energy producers may qualify for coverage under PURPA. The first includes small power production facilities with less than 80 MW of capacity which generate electricity by converting energy from biomass sources (such as municipal garbage or wood chips) or are fueled by renewable resources, such as wind, geothermal, or ocean thermal energy. The second category is made up of cogenerators of electricity, which produce electrical energy as a by-product of a process which also produces steam or heat used in industry (e.g. heat from the burning of bagasse in sugar mills). PURPA and Act 102 favor generation of electricity by producers other than electric companies, but the utilities are not defenseless to resist the entrance of new producers. Their primary defense is to hold down costs, so lessening the inducement to potential suppliers. They have little control over energy costs while they remain heavily dependent on oil. This study shows how the new regulatory law will shape the price structure for alternative, indigenous energy sources used to generate electricity in Hawaii, and to consider the economic effects of the pricing policies required by that law. The focus is on the electric power industry. (MCW)
- Research Organization:
- Hawaii Univ., Manoa (USA). Hawaii Natural Energy Inst.
- OSTI ID:
- 6544630
- Report Number(s):
- HNEI-80-07
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
296000* -- Energy Planning & Policy-- Electric Power
COGENERATION
DEUS
DOMESTIC SUPPLIES
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
ENERGY SOURCES
ENERGY SYSTEMS
FUEL SUBSTITUTION
FUELS
GOVERNMENT POLICIES
HAWAII
IMPLEMENTATION
LAWS
LEGISLATION
NATIONAL ENERGY ACT
NORTH AMERICA
POWER GENERATION
PRICES
PUBLIC UTILITIES
PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY POLICIES ACT
RATE STRUCTURE
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
STATE GOVERNMENT
STEAM GENERATION
USA
WESTERN REGION