Green Fee funding for 9 community health center microgrids

Storm-Ready Solar + Battery Microgrids for 9 Community Health Center Sites

Approve Green Fee funding for the Local Energy Initiative (LEI), a partnership between Hawaiʻi Primary Care Association and Collective Energy, to finish solar + battery microgrids at nine community health center sites across four islands in Hilo, Keaʻau, Kaʻū, Hāna, Molokaʻi, Waimānalo and Wahiawā. These clinics provide primary, behavioral and emergency care to some of Hawaiʻi's most vulnerable communities; when the power goes out, medicines spoil, electronic health records are inaccessible, and people have nowhere to go for care.

The Legislature has already invested $2.7M in LEI: $2M in Green Fee funds, $500K in capital grant-in-aid, and $196K in operating grant-in-aid for program implementation. Direct Relief, Hawaiʻi Community Foundation, Ulupono Initiative and Kosasa Foundation are also partners. Solar panels for all sites have already been purchased and secured to keep the projects' 30% federal tax credit. When Act 114 repealed the state renewable energy tax credit, it opened a $3.7M gap. Each month of delay raises costs and puts both the federal credit and the state's investment at risk, because the projects must be finished by the end of 2029. Kona Lows and the El Nino hurricane season showed what is at stake: the Kaʻū clinic was damaged and Wahiawā ran on generators. The request closes the gap and adds elevated battery systems to flood-prone sites. Each site becomes a health power hub that keeps care, medicine refrigeration and communications running during outages. The microgrid systems save health centers about $16M in operating costs over 25 years, at a time when they are facing federal Medicaid cuts and rising energy costs. The health centers will own them outright, so backup power stays under local control when it matters most.