Green Fee-funded home battery backup program for LMI households

Use a small amount of Green Fee funds to subsidize the placement of batteries in low and moderate income (LMI) households. Low and moderate income families suffer from power outages more frequently due to extreme weather and natural disasters in the islands; when this occurs, households lose hundreds of dollars of food in refrigerators and freezers and access to medical devices. With $3M in funding, 1000 low income homes can receive backup power protection that can also help support renewable energy supply on the grid. Qualified non-profit organizations would provide a portable battery (long-term loan) to renters and households who donʻt have access to solar power. Non-profits could also provide a similar credit to low-income households who choose to install home batteries as part of a permanent solar system that can allow their homes to serve as neighborhood resilience hubs. The program would make low income homes more resilient to climate disruption, protect lives, avoid financial catastrophe for impacted families who lose power, and help store clean renewable power during the day to shift it to night and disaster deployment uses.