[ IT'S ELECTRIC ]
Honolulu may be the only place where the avid interest of a king sparked electrification. HECO plays powerful
role in HawaiiA top priority remains reducing
the islands' use of imported oilBy Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.comWhen Kalakaua made his 1881 trip around the world, a key stop was a visit to electrical pioneer Thomas Alva Edison in New Jersey to learn more about this new illumination.
Just over five years later, he had a small steam-powered electric plant built on the grounds of Iolani Palace, making it the world's first royal residence with electric lights. By 1891, just a few months after King Kalakaua died of a stroke, Hawaiian Electric was formed.
Since then, its growth has paralleled that of the kingdom, the republic, territory and the state of Hawaii. (See chart.)
"Hawaii has always intrigued me because it was one of the first seats of government in the world to have electric power," said HECO President and Chief Executive Officer Mike May, who joined the company in 1993.
When it celebrated its 100th birthday in 1991, HECO published a history, "Hawaii: The Electric Century," from which this account of Kalakaua's interest in electricity is taken. The book describes how the company strove to keep abreast of Oahu's growing power needs over the years, then eventually those of 95 percent of the state's residents -- with the addition of Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light (Big Island) in 1968 and 1970, respectively.
Though he's had differences with the utility over the placement of its massive 138-kilovolt powerlines, Honolulu Mayor Jeremy Harris is quick to praise its overall contribution.
COURTESY PHOTO / APRIL 2002
The Hawaiian Electric Electron Marathon is an annual event in which race teams from public and private schools build alternative-energy cars to participate.
"The growth of modern society in general simply would not have been possible without reliable and reasonably priced electricity," Harris said. "And with its roots in Hawaii for over a century, Hawaiian Electric has been a committed partner in the growth of our own city's economy."
HECO generates power from a wide variety of sources, including coal, the Earth's heat, rushing water, wind and sun. Hawaii gets 6.5 percent of its electricity from renewable energy sources, statistically ahead of the mainland, which averages just 2 percent renewable energy.
But the utility's main fuel source is imported oil, something of which it is acutely aware in these days of global warming and increasing environmental consciousness.
"Helping Hawaii decrease its use of imported fuel is a top priority for us," May said.HECO has taken steps in recent years to further development of new energy technologies for Hawaii, including:
>> The co-sponsorship of the Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility, along with the University of Hawaii's Natural Energy Institute, UTC Fuel Cells and the U.S. Office of Naval Research. Research done here could bring commercial uses of fuel cells for vehicles and other uses closer to reality.
>> Pilot projects on Maui and the Big Island let HECO's subsidiary companies try distributed generation: creating power closer to a customer to cut down on transmission losses and capturing waste heat for practical uses like heating water.
>> HECO's own demand-side management, giving a price break to homes and businesses that increase energy efficiency, is estimated to have saved the company from building 62.5 megawatts of electric capacity.
"Our state has the highest per capita use of solar water heating in the country," said John Tantlinger, a manager in the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism's energy resources technology division. He said HECO's "very big contribution to the economy actually goes unnoticed and unheralded."
