KIUC rises in solar survey

LIHUE — Kauai Island Utility Cooperative has been named one of a select group of utilities that connected the most solar to the grid in 2018, earning it a spot on the annual Top 10 utility industry list compiled by the Smart Electric Power Alliance.

In survey results released Thursday, KIUC ranked No. 8 nationally on the utility solar list, with 21.43 megawatts (MW) or 637.9 watts-per-customer installed in 2018. The 12th annual Utility Market Survey collected figures from over 500 utilities across the country on solar connected to the grid in 2018.

“The utilities in the Top 10 are truly spearheading the progress we’ve seen in the electric sector this past year,” said Julia Hamm, SEPA president and CEO.

This is the second consecutive year KIUC has made SEPA’s Top 10 list for energy storage watts per customer.

“Battery storage has allowed us to make huge strides toward our Board of Directors’ strategic goal of 70 percent renewable by 2030,” said KIUC President and Chief Executive Officer David Bissell. “With the addition of the AES Lawai project this year we can now meet up to 40 percent of our evening peak demand with stored solar power.”

AES Lawai has the capacity to store 100 megawatt hours of power daily. Coupled with the output of the Tesla solar-plus storage facility in Kapaia, KIUC now has access to more than 150 megawatt hours of solar energy after sunset.

An additional AES solar-storage project is under construction at the U.S. Navy Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands. That project will add 14 megawatts of solar with associated battery storage to provide 70 megawatt hours of power during evening peak.

“All of these projects are being procured via long-term purchase agreements at prices well below the current cost of oil,” said Bissell. “This provides us with pricing stability and a downward pressure on rates over time.”