Hawaiian Electric 2025 renewable portfolio standard hits 37% amid spike in electricity use

Hawaiian Electric achieved a 37% consolidated renewable portfolio standard in 2025, marking progress toward the 2030 RPS milestone of 40% — even as the company’s electricity demand grew at the highest rate in over 20 years.

The 37% is the consolidated RPS for Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi Island and Maui County and represents the percentage of electricity generated by renewable resources. The 2025 RPS increased by one percentage point from 2024 despite having the highest year-over-year increase in electricity load since 2004.

In 2025 there was a 2.5% increase in electricity usage compared to 2024. Warmer weather and the continued economic recovery since the Maui windstorm contributed to the increase in electricity load.

The 37% RPS was achieved through a mix of geothermal, biomass, hydro, wind, biofuels and solar, including 120,570 rooftop systems, most of which are residential. The increase in renewables in 2025 provides enough clean, renewable energy to fully serve nearly 39,000 homes.

Other 2025 RPS highlights:

• Grid-scale solar generation increased with the addition of the following facilities achieving commercial operations or starting production:
  • Hale Kuawehi Solar, 30 megawatts (MW) with a 120 megawatt-hour (MWh) battery energy storage system, on Hawaiʻi Island in March
  • Hoʻohana Solar 1, 52 MW with a 208 MWh BESS, on Oʻahu in July
  • Mountain View Solar, 7 MW with a 35 MWh BESS and Waiawa Phase 2 solar, 30 MW with a 240 MWh BESS, began providing energy on Oʻahu in October and November, respectively. They are expected to complete commissioning and achieve commercial operations this year.
    Note: Energy from these four renewable projects is expected to contribute to a 2-point increase in RPS in 2026.
• New private rooftop solar installations, known as distributed energy resources or DER, totaled 73 MW. About 45% of single-family homes served by Hawaiian Electric have rooftop solar.

This year, the company expects to further increase renewable generation and battery energy storage on Oʻahu and add thousands of rooftop solar systems on all islands.

In 2022, the state law determining the process for calculating RPS changed. Until then, the RPS calculation reflected the percentage of electricity sold that came from renewable sources.

Under the old formula, the consolidated RPS for 2025 would have been 46.6%. The revised definition showing the percentage of total generation from renewables more accurately measures progress toward the goal of achieving 100% renewable energy by 2045 by changing the way private rooftop solar is counted in the calculation.

2025 Renewable Portfolio Standard