Hawaiʻi committed to 100% clean energy. Now it’s flirting with natural gas.

Hawaiʻi passed a law in 2015 committing the state to 100% renewable electricity by 2045. A decade later, the buildout has been slowed by the pandemic, supply chain problems, and the 2023 Maui wildfires, which were linked to utility equipment and hurt Hawaiian Electric's finances. Rooftop solar has grown widely, especially on Oʻahu, but electric rates remain the highest in the nation, and residents without solar are still exposed to swings in global oil prices.

Now Gov. Josh Green is backing a $2 billion proposal from Japan's JERA to build a floating terminal that would import liquefied natural gas (LNG) near Barbers Point on Oʻahu, fueling a new power plant meant to come online by 2030. JERA says the switch from oil to gas could cut household bills by $500 a year. But independent energy researchers and a state senator who helped write the 2045 law argue the real savings would be small, and that gas ties Hawaiʻi to another imported fossil fuel just as gas markets have grown volatile. A state study meant to justify the project was found to contain a math error that had overstated the benefits by over a billion dollars.

Meanwhile, Kauaʻi's separate, smaller utility has shown that heavy investment in solar and batteries can lower costs without gas, and expects to go fossil-fuel-free by 2033. State regulators have been asked to study Oʻahu's options and report back by year's end, before any final decision on the gas project.