Hawaii utility seeks renewable power and storage while keeping firm-generation options open

Hawaiian Electric is asking Hawaii regulators to advance a major power procurement for Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Island while separately seeking authority to evaluate up to 500 megawatts of fuel-flexible firm generation on Oahu.

The utility submitted its proposed final Integrated Grid Planning Request for Proposals on July 17, 2026, in Public Utilities Commission Docket No. 2024-0258. The filing does not approve any project, fuel choice or customer rate increase. Those decisions would require additional regulatory review.

What Hawaiian Electric is seeking

The main solicitation would seek nearly 1,650 gigawatt-hours of variable renewable energy, including solar and wind; 465 megawatts of grid-forming resources; and 111 megawatts of firm generating capacity.

Grid-forming resources are designed to help establish or support the grid’s voltage and frequency. Firm capacity refers to resources intended to provide power when variable renewable output is unavailable or insufficient. Hawaiian Electric says projects selected through the main procurement would be placed in service between 2031 and 2034.

The proposed resources are intended to work as a portfolio rather than as mutually exclusive alternatives. Renewable generation and storage could provide energy when available, while firm resources could support reliability during periods when wind and solar output is insufficient.

“Firm” or “fuel-flexible” describes the reliability role or operating flexibility of a resource. It does not determine whether a final project would use oil, natural gas, renewable fuels or another technology.

Why Oahu is central to the debate

Oahu would be the main focus of the separate firm-generation request. Hawaiian Electric says it wants expedited approval to pursue up to 500 additional megawatts of fuel-flexible capacity and plans to issue an all-fuels request for proposals by the end of 2026.

The utility says that future solicitation would include liquid and gaseous fuels and would compare options using factors such as price, fuel sourcing and environmental impacts. Hawaiian Electric has said it remains open to liquefied natural gas, but that any pathway should be tested through a transparent, competitive process overseen by the PUC.

Hawaiʻi Public Radio reported July 24 that the proposed expansion could create a competitive pathway for a separate 500-megawatt LNG plant proposed by JERA. JERA’s project remains a proposal, not an approved plant. HPR reported that JERA has discussed creating a separate regulated utility that could bring the project directly to the commission rather than through Hawaiian Electric’s existing competitive-bidding structure.

Hawaiian Electric says Oahu uses more than 70% of the electricity generated in Hawaii. HPR reported that petroleum supplies about 70% of Oahu’s electricity generation. Those figures make Oahu the largest immediate test of how the state balances reliability, fuel costs, emissions and energy security.

What it could mean for residents

Customers on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Island are within the geographic scope of the proposed procurement. The plan could influence the islands’ generation mix, reliability planning and electricity costs for years, but it does not immediately change utility bills.

Hawaiian Electric says adding renewable generation and storage could reduce oil use and help meet growing demand as transportation and industrial processes become more electrified. Those are utility objectives, not guaranteed outcomes. Actual costs, savings, emissions effects and reliability benefits would depend on the projects ultimately selected, their contracts and the commission’s decisions.

Residents may also see competing interests in future filings. Renewable and storage projects could affect land use, local infrastructure and host communities. Firm-generation proposals could raise questions about fuel supply, environmental effects, long-term contracts and whether customers would bear construction or operating costs.

What regulators will review

The PUC’s integrated-grid-planning process combines generation, transmission and distribution planning. The commission says competitive procurements are overseen by the PUC, an independent observer and an independent engineer.

Commission review is intended to examine whether proposed resources serve the public interest, including reliability, pricing, environmental effects, community benefits and energy equity. The PUC also says resilience planning must test how different resource mixes perform during events such as natural disasters, cyberattacks and equipment failures.

What happens next

Hawaiian Electric’s IGP RFP process page says the final RFP is scheduled to be issued 15 business days after the July 17 filing unless the commission orders otherwise. That schedule concerns issuance of the solicitation; it is not approval of construction, project selection or cost recovery.

The filing remains part of the regulatory process in Docket No. 2024-0258. The utility’s proposed all-fuels RFP by the end of 2026 would create another stage for evaluating firm-generation options, including possible LNG proposals.

Residents, businesses and community groups should watch the docket for commission action on the RFP, later project selections, fuel choices, contracts and requests to recover costs from customers. As of August 5, 2026, the PUC had not approved the proposed projects, a fuel choice or a customer rate increase described in the filing.

Sources

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