• Court Street Group, a DC-based investment research organization, published an investor note on Hawaiian Electric, their monopoly-influenced mismanagement, and legal concerns regarding the Hu Honua lawsuit.
  • Analyst Matt Posner highlights the Hu Honua complaint within the note:
    • Risk to large power providers in the United States may be taking on new dimensions as advocates for climate change action begin to see their labors come to light. The structure of power generation and distribution in this country is monopolistic in nature (albeit less so compared to most other developed countries) and that very structure could see unexpected risks in new forms of litigation that is arising as climate-related change takes place.
    • A new twist in an ongoing antitrust case in Hawai’i points to an unlawful termination of a power purchase agreement (PPA) by Hawai’i Electric Light Company (HELCO) to Hu Honua Bioenergy, LLC slated to be part of the state’s renewable energy transition that it also led to an overgrowth in grasses that is directly tied to the recent wildfires in Maui.
    • This lawsuit is a real-time example of the intersection of climate risk factors, power providers (both investor-owned and public) and their increased susceptibility to liabilities as the nation transitions to more renewable energy. These liabilities stem from the dynamic of monopolistic provider structures many states have in this country converging with policy makers pushing forward plans for a less fossil fuels reliant system that will inevitably butt heads with power grid status quo. This angle on the energy transition has not been covered as extensively as other aspects and stakeholders in the energy sector and all communities should consider the Hawai’i case as a bit of a canary. The outcome is not expected to set precedents but could pave a way for potential outcomes elsewhere.