Jon Itomura took the helm of the Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission in January. While he’s new to his role, he’s on familiar ground. He spent more than a decade as an attorney with the Division of Consumer Advocacy, representing the interests of utility customers in proceedings before the commission.
Itomura said that experience has helped him to quickly settle into his work as commission chair.
“The uptake has been a lot easier and quicker for me,” Itomura told HPR.
But leading the Public Utilities Commission, which handles hundreds of regulatory proceedings each year, is no small task.
The commission regulates Hawaiian Electric and Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative, and that work puts it at the center of conversations happening statewide about energy.
Itomura said he will work to balance concerns about affordability and reliability in our energy system while pushing for progress on the state’s renewable energy targets.
“Our goal is to work towards (a) 100% renewable future,” he said.
He spoke with HPR’s Savannah Harriman-Pote about what he hopes to accomplish in his tenure.
Interview highlights
On moving the needle on the renewable transition
JOHN ITOMURA: Many jurisdictions are looking at Hawai’i for guidance in how we're going to reach our 100% renewable goals … What's most important for me is keeping our eyes and ears open and moving as fast as we can with the knowledge that we have before us, and so we can't be caught up in analysis paralysis, given that you have that almost a contradiction of technology moving so fast, yet decisions needing to be made in the present. But we'll be doing the best we can in moving forward and being flexible as new technologies come aboard.
On how the Public Utilities Commission can expedite its review process for new energy projects
ITOMURA: My experience with the Division of Consumer Advocacy and participation in numerous dockets is that often the commission is very open to requests for delay or additional time … That's something that we need to avoid in order to address both concerns by the legislature, as well as administration, and of course our very own office, and the needs of the commercial utility project developers. So, therefore, we'll definitely be moving faster. We've moved forward very quickly on several projects already, certain purchase power agreements, such as Waiau, Mahi Solar, both on Oʻahu, including Puʻuloa Solar, and then Kūihelani Phase II Solar on Maui. Again, these are (power purchase agreements) that we've tried to move along as quick as we could.
On what considerations the commission is weighing as it determines the ceiling on what an electric utility has to pay if its equipment is implicated in a catastrophic wildfire
ITOMURA: We've been tasked by the legislature to address this issue, and it's a very complicated and contested issue, but the idea is to create a structured and predictable way to fund wildfire recovery, protecting customers and communities from events that create these sudden and high cost shifts. The idea is that the liability cap will also help protect the utilities' financial stability, as well as ensuring that the grid remains reliable, and the utility is allowed to continue to invest in clean energy projects.
On how to encourage more public participation in commission proceedings
ITOMURA: The PUC has been hard at work on our website, and also in the reach of our newsletter. So, the newsletter does go out to the legislature on a more regular basis than it has in the past, and I think this is very important, as the legislature could also be a means of educating its constituents, and the idea that the ratepayers and the customers of the utilities need to get more involved and do their part by utilizing the programs provided by organizations such as Hawaiʻi Energy, and also providing input, so that the Public Utilities Commission can develop better community benefit packages within the process of new projects being developed on all of our islands.
