On January 5, 2019, just shy of one year after the Molokai Community Energy Meeting hosted by Sustainʻāinable Molokai on February 20, 2018, Chase Livingston ʻ19 and Rachel James ʻ19 returned to Molokai for the Community-Based Renewable Energy, or “CBRE,” engagement meeting. The CBRE program is Hawaiʻi’s version of the “shared” solar concept that is taking off across the country. Chase and Rachel report on their experience in the paragraphs that follow. 

As a follow-up to our prior work on Molokai, this most recent energy meeting was very likely the first CBRE meeting in the state to focus on designing a project around a specific community of participants. The meeting was attended by long-time community activists, county officials and employees, residents from around the island, and a handful of graduate students. Although the winds blowing through the hale and the sun beams across the landscape seemed fitting for a community meeting in Hawai‘i, what seemed most appropriate was that this first meeting was on the island of Molokai, which from ancient times was known as `āina momona (the fat or abundant land). The abundance of energy, interest, and determination were palpable throughout the meeting. Equally as fitting was for this first meeting to take place on the first Hawaiian island projected to achieve 100% renewable energy. Needless to say, the setting was perfect from a number of vantage points.

We were joined by a four-person graduate student team from Stanford’s Design Impact Engineering Master’s program.  They helped facilitate the meeting in coordination with Molokai resident Emillia Noordoek. Emillia has worked with ELP students for several years, designing ways to review, distill, and share information about complex energy law topics in a way that is accessible for all community members. Those experiences and our collective research were shared with the Stanford team in periodic consultation sessions leading up to the 2019 Molokai community energy meeting. With those inputs and their program tools, the Stanford team developed a CBRE engagement strategy to help community members design a CBRE project focused on community needs and wants.

The Meeting

We started the day talking story with community members and the facilitators. Then, we presented an introduction to general concepts related to energy development and energy justice, followed by some specifics about how Hawai‘i’s CBRE regulatory framework is intended to increase solar access for low- to moderate-income households, renters, and others.

 We were encouraged to hear the community’s feedback about what energy justice could mean for Molokai residents and how the CBRE program might be implemented there. Having this type of community meeting at the initial phase of a brand new program yielded a number of suggestions for how future phases could better serve communities. Currently, the first phase of the program allows utility customers to purchase a subscription to a portion of a solar project that is sited within the same utility service territory as their dwelling. The subscription provides the subscribing customer with an on-bill energy credit. This credit reflects the amount of solar energy provided by the customer’s portion of the solar project.

After a tasty lunch courtesy of our Stanford partners, Emillia, and the Stanford students reconvened the group for a design thinking workshop. The goal of this workshop was to learn more about how community members envision their energy future, and to brainstorm how those goals could be met, in part or in whole through the CBRE program.

The workshop began with a “yes and” exercise to get us in the mindset of acceptance. The participants were encouraged to welcome as many ideas into the sphere of consideration as possible. With our mindsets tuned for open idea sharing, we progressed to the next exercise. The group was divided into four smaller groups. In these small groups, we were prompted with three rounds of specific questions. We used post-it notes to quickly share out ideas relevant to the one question posed in each round. Questions were related to things like community sponsors and partners, energy resources, and technologies.

The last exercise gathered the entire group around topographical maps of Molokai. The Stanford team brought two maps that they made from laser-cut cardboard and 3D-printed models of renewable energy technologies (ground mounted solar and wind) to place around the island. The group discussed more deeply some of the ideas generated during the brainstorming session. Part of this discussion related to the type and location of potential future energy resources on Molokai. This process allowed community members to visually orient potential locations for future energy resources and consider potential consequences of development.

One very interesting consideration was the impact of fenced projects on the natural flow of wildlife, specifically the axis deer. We learned that over the years, fenced projects (not just energy projects) have blocked typical deer paths and forced the deer onto the highway causing safety concerns. Other community members lamented the high cost of the prior energy choices in comparison to recent announcements of much lower cost solar + storage projects on other islands.   

While cost remained an important consideration, the community participants made it clear that renewable energy development on Molokai had to consider this AND more. What shone through each of our discussions was that any energy project developed on Molokai, renewable or otherwise, would need to incorporate and adhere to local values and principles. Principles that were highlighted during the meeting included self-determination, stewardship of local resources, revitalization of dormant systems, and self-sufficiency.  What a great learning experience!  We are thankful to the community for allowing us to participate.