Sustainability

Why is renewable energy important?

To reduce Hawaii's consumption of oil.

Hawaii depends on imported petroleum for most of its electrical energy needs. There's a good reason for this. Unlike mainland states, Hawaii does not have access to other fuel sources such as natural gas, or large rivers to produce hydropower. Hawaii also doesn't use nuclear power. Diversifying Hawaii's mix of energy sources by using more renewable energy to produce electricity will help Hawaii use less oil.

Factoid: Only 32% of Hawaii's imported oil is used to make electricity. Get more facts

Factoid: Although using renewable energy will reduce Hawaii's use of oil to produce electricity, it won't eliminate the need to import crude oil to Hawaii.  Get more facts.

To help Hawaii's environment.

Hawaii's air quality is among the cleanest in the nation. HECO, HELCO and MECO work hard to keep it that way by complying with stringent federal and state regulations governing emissions. Using renewable energy sources also helps Hawaii's environment because they generally produce less air emissions.

Why not get even more of Hawaii's energy from renewable sources?

HECO, HELCO and MECO are among the nation's LEADERS in supporting renewable energy that's reliable and cost effective for our customers. Although there are some challenges to using renewable energy, HECO, HELCO, and MECO are working to increase our use of renewable energy by getting electricity from renewable sources today and through many projects to encourage renewable energy development.