Originally published in The Lahaina News – April 11, 2019 3月27日至28日，西区居民Jennifer Potter参加了第六届年度活动 Hawaii Energy Conference (HEC) and Exhibition at the Maui Arts & 作为夏威夷公共事业委员会(PUC)的委员.
由皇冠体育经济发展局主办，皇冠体育经济发展局支助, the sixth annual conference drew over 400 people, an increase of more than 25 percent from last year.
Commissioner Potter was appointed to the PUC by Gov. David Ige in March 2018 for a term to expire in June 2024. Previously, she was a faculty member at the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, an independent research institute within the University of Hawaii, where she conducted research on demand response, Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), locational benefits of DERs, and energy efficiency.
他持有卡内基梅隆大学公共政策与管理硕士学位和南俄勒冈大学国际研究与经济学学士学位.
Committed to Hawaii’s ambitious renewable energy goals, 波特专员还将她在劳伦斯伯克利国家实验室担任高级科学工程助理的丰富经验带到PUC.
“夏威夷在DER整合方面继续处于领先地位，并将在未来五年内成为公用事业规模可再生能源项目的领导者,” Potter said.
“We are working on regulatory reform, direct response markets, microgrid initiatives, integrated grid planning, resilience, and climate change initiatives across local and state governments.”
波特在研究生毕业后就开始在北加州一家小型电力公司工作，从此“迷上了能源”.
“I analyzed how and when customers used energy,” she said. “这项研究被称为负荷研究，是设定费率的基础, forecasting load growth and sales within utilities around the country. 它提供了一个全面和可靠的趋势知识和电力行业服务的客户的负载特性的一般行为.”
对客户需求如何驱动公用事业发电和供应产生兴趣, 波特局长的方向变得非常明确:客户是清洁能源未来的主要参与者, and when they use energy is critical.
“如果消费者在晚上使用更少的能源，因为能源是由肮脏的化石燃料发电厂产生的, 而是在太阳能充足的白天使用它们的大部分能量，为我们的电网供电, then we have changed the fuel mix of our energy. We would be using more renewable resources,” Potter said.
“在接下来的七年里，我一直致力于研究如何帮助客户过渡到使用更多的清洁能源和更少的污染能源.”
波特专员学到的是，如果你给顾客提供奖励, 帮助控制家用电器能耗的教育和技术, they are willing and able to participate in the clean energy future.
“Give customers a discount on their energy use during the day, with some home automation like Alex and Nest thermostats, and it is easy for them to save money and use clean energy.” she said. “这是我对夏威夷愿景的重要组成部分——让我们的居民能够使用清洁能源，并尽可能地节约能源, without being inconvenienced. 夏威夷电力公司(HECO)正在努力使可再生能源上网, and we, as customers, have to do our part, too.”
Commissioner Potter continued, “PUC最近批准了皇冠体育电力公司(MECO)与AES可再生能源公司购买60兆瓦太阳能和240兆瓦时电池容量的电力协议. MECO将从太阳能阵列和电池系统中支付每千瓦时8美分的费用, 这是岛上可再生能源成本最低的，比化石燃料发电低得多. The goal is to replace the Kahului Plant, which is the dirtiest and least efficient fossil fuel plant in Hawaii, with this clean energy. 太阳能和储存设施可以产生足够的能源供近27人使用,000 Maui homes at a fraction of the cost of the Kahului plant. Not only do customers get clean energy, that energy is much cheaper.”
That said, while MECO can bring the clean energy resources to the grid, customers need to help manage their energy use, so they are using the majority of energy when the solar is produced.
For example, if you have an electric vehicle, charge it during the day so that you are using clean electrons. Use a timer for your dishwasher and pre-cool your home. Buy efficient appliances, like Energy Star, 并向夏威夷能源公司查询可以降低电费的回扣和项目.
“我们必须共同努力，实现100%清洁能源的未来, both the utilities and the customers,” Potter said, noting the announcement of the landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between Hawaii and California.
加州大学和夏威夷大学现在将正式合作应对气候变化, reduce the use of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emission,” she said. By entering into a MOU, 每个委员会的工作人员将在其任务范围内采取行动，促进实现这些目标. 这是夏威夷公用事业委员会对减少碳排放和加速本州清洁能源发展做出强有力的公开承诺的绝佳机会. I am honored to have worked on the MOU.”
目前夏威夷PUC面临的最重要的问题之一是基于绩效的监管(PBR), 一种旨在加强公用事业绩效激励的公用事业监管方法.
The term “PBR” is synonymous with incentive regulation. 2018年通过的立法指示公共电力公司到2020年实施PBR，打破公用事业收入和资本投资之间的联系.
“The commission has been working closely with stakeholders, consumer advocates and the utilities to define a set of goals, 结果和指标将取代公用事业成本回收的服务成本和基于费率的监管模式,” Potter said.
“These goals include: enhance the customer experience; improve utility performance; and advance societal goals. The outcomes include efforts like reducing greenhouse gases, using distributed energy resources and investing in an efficient grid.”
On Feb. 7, 2019, 夏威夷公用事业委员会的工作人员发布了一项建议，采用更新的公用事业法规，以鼓励HECO公司以经济有效的方式实现国家能源目标，并为客户节省成本.
Commissioner Potter concluded, “目前的监管模式鼓励企业进行大量资本投资以获得回报. Our efforts will break that link, 这样，公用事业公司就可以从提供服务和项目中获得回报，而不仅仅是资本投资. 我们必须考虑一套更广泛的监管机制，允许公用事业公司灵活行动，加快我们走向可再生能源的道路. Regulation is where the rubber hits the road. 作为公用事业委员会，我们如何履行我们的职能，必须改善公用事业并使公用事业绩效与社区利益保持一致.”