This story was published in collaboration with Hawaiʻi Public Radio.
On June 8, 2015, Gov. David Ige sat under the great seal of the state of Hawaiʻi and signed the nation’s first legal commitment to run an entire state’s grid system on 100% renewable electricity.
Ige, a Democrat, lamented that Hawaiʻi was “the most oil-dependent state” in the U.S.; unlike others, it relied on oil to produce nearly all of its electricity.
“Making the transition to renewable, indigenous resources for power generation will allow us to keep more of that money at home, thereby improving our economy, environment and energy security,” he said at the time.
Two months later, he shot down a pricey proposal to use another imported fossil fuel — natural gas — to reduce the islands’ dependence on oil imports. Ige’s reasoning was clear: “It’s time to focus all of our efforts on renewables,” he said.
