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Hawaiian Electric picks NextEra subsidiary for Lānaʻi solar project

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Hawaiian Electric has selected a subsidiary of NextEra Energy to build and maintain a utility-scale solar project on Lānaʻi.

Hawaiian Electric originally selected Onyx Development Group in April to build and maintain Mikiola Solar.

But the utility says it could not finalize a contract with Onyx and announced this week that it had selected a new company — DG Development & Acquisition, LLC.

DG Development is a subsidiary of NextEra Energy, the Florida-based energy company that tried to buy Hawaiian Electric’s utility business several years ago. The Public Utilities Commission ultimately rejected the deal in 2016.

The Lānaʻi project would be the island’s first shared solar program — also known as community based renewable energy.

Mikiola Solar is located near Hawaiian Electric’s Miki Basin facilities and sits on 73 acres of land owned by Larry Ellison’s Pūlama Lānaʻi.

DG was selected through a competitive bid process and contract negotiations are underway. Once a 20-year contract is finalized, it must be approved by the Public Utilities Commission.

Jason Ubay is the managing editor at Hawaiʻi Public Radio. Send your story ideas to him at jubay@hawaiipublicradio.org.
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