Hawaiʻi’s mandate to transition to 100% renewable resources to generate electricity by 2045 spawned headlines when lawmakers passed the measure in 2015, making the Aloha State the first in the nation to commit to such a lofty goal.

But a decade later, Hawaiʻi lags far behind leading states in using renewables. And far more than any other state, Hawaiʻi relies heavily on high-carbon petroleum to generate power, data from the U.S. Department of Energy shows. 

In July, 24% of Hawaii’s total electricity came from renewables, primarily solar, compared to a national average of about 20%, data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration shows.

Meanwhile, just over 71% of Hawaiʻi’s electricity came from petroleum-fired power plants, the highest of any state. On average, other states produced less than 1% of their electricity by burning oil. 

A central purpose of Hawaiʻi’s law is to make the state energy-independent with “a secure source of affordable energy.” But 10 years after the law passed, Hawaiʻi still uses 16 times more energy than it produces, the Energy Administration reports.

The data shows how far Hawaiʻi has come in 10 years and what it must do over the next 20. Hawaiʻi might be a bit above the national average in its use of renewables. But it significantly lags leaders like California, Texas and Florida. In California, for instance, renewables supplied 59% of the Golden State’s electricity generation in July. Natural gas fueled another 31%. Nuclear power provided almost all the rest.

Whether Hawaiʻi can meet its mandated goal or even catch up with the leaders remains to be seen. Hawaiian Electric Co. is engaged in grid planning and soliciting proposals from third-party wind and solar farm companies, but some of those efforts stalled after the 2023 wildfires on Maui. A plan to provide condo dwellers the option to buy from off-site solar farms has gone nowhere, failing to drive the development of big solar farms as the policy envisioned.

Gov. Josh Green earlier this month unveiled a $2 billion agreement with Tokyo-based JERA Co. to bring natural gas to Hawaiʻi, intended as a lower-cost, low-emission alternative to oil while the state transitions to renewables. But the non-binding agreement lacks details and is strongly opposed by the state’s influential environmental lobby.

Data Dive

Data Dives are Civil Beat’s quick takes on numbers and data sets with a Hawai‘i angle.

In the meantime, Hawaiʻi residents face among the nation’s highest monthly electric bills. A saving grace for Hawaiʻi is its temperate climate; the state’s per-capita energy consumption is the nation’s lowest. But many people still struggle to pay their electric bills, thanks to high costs of electricity per kilowatt-hour.

“The state’s reliance on imported petroleum for generating electricity and its isolated island grids contribute to Hawaii having the highest average electricity price of any state, reaching more than triple the U.S. average price,” the Energy Information Administration reports.

Civil Beat’s coverage of climate change and the environment is supported by The Healy Foundation, the Marisla Fund of the Hawai‘i Community Foundation and the Frost Family Foundation. “Data Dive” is supported in part by the Will J. Reid Foundation. “Hawaiʻi’s Changing Economy” is supported by a grant from the Hawaiʻi Community Foundation as part of its work to build equity for all through the CHANGE Framework.