Speeches & Testimony

I rise today in support of my Energy Transitions Initiative Authorization Act to expand resilient and reliable energy for some of our nation’s most vulnerable regions – isolated and Tribal communities.

Isolated and Tribal communities often share common energy obstacles, such as limited energy infrastructure, high costs of imported energy and vulnerability to natural disasters. For example, in my home state of Hawai‘i, which ranks as the state with the most expensive power in the nation, residential electricity rates average 34 cents per kilowatt, far exceeding the national average by threefold. We are not alone in this problem. For example, in Maine the cost of electricity hovers at 22 cents per kilowatt, coming in at 13% higher than the national average, in part due to its many islands and isolated communities.

My colleagues and I representing these communities intimately understand the challenges that isolated and Tribal communities face and are working to address them. In Hawai‘i, our state leaders launched a clean energy initiative in 2008 to aim to use 100% renewable electricity to power our entire state by 2045. We focused on clean energy, which we can self-sustain, and recognizing that good portions of our energy come from overseas and potentially adversarial countries, green energy can also help us advance national security interests. As for my role in this effort, I have focused on supporting federal programs that help advance these goals.

These unique energy resilience challenges in remote and Tribal areas are the focus of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Transitions Initiative Program. Since its inception, this program has partnered with over 25 Tribal, coastal, remote and island communities across the nation to help them secure reliable and affordable energy.

The Energy Transitions Initiative Partnership Program provides customized technical and financial assistance to community projects aimed at accessing reliable and affordable power and increasing energy resilience. Specific community projects include solar power interconnection, analyzing wind energy potential, conducting wildfire preparedness, advancing weatherization retrofits and implementing microgrids and battery storage projects.

The draw of this program is that it doesn’t come in and dictate how communities reach their clean energy goals. It is a partnership program that values and appreciates the perspective of local and Tribal communities, actively listening and incorporating community feedback.

In Hawai‘i, the Energy Transitions Initiative has provided technical assistance to the City and County of Honolulu to conduct microgrid location analyses for regional hybrid microgrids and map designs. Because Hawai‘i is prone to severe weather conditions that have previously caused long-duration power outages, our islands have identified hybrid microgrids as one method to improve resilience. Microgrids are best suited to areas prone to prolonged outages during weather events, with clusters of customers and potential availability of renewable energy sources. The product of this partnership was a map identifying potential locations given a set of criteria that stakeholders prioritized in the areas of criticality, vulnerability and societal impact.

This program helps far more than just Hawai‘i. For example, it helps the Aquinnah and Chilmark Tribes in Massachusetts transition to 100% renewable energy by 2040 through retrofits, microgrids and efficiency measures, and Bainbridge Island in Washington analyze the solar and water power options with a goal of transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2040.

Although this program has helped so many across our great nation, it has never been formally codified. Our bill, the Energy Transitions Initiative Authorization Act, will ensure this program can continue the technical assistance offered to remote, island and Tribal communities that is unique and accommodating to their expertise and deep knowledge of local challenges and solutions.

The bill will authorize $31 million for each fiscal year from 2026 to 2030 to carry out the bill’s objectives. No later than 1 year after the establishment of the bill, the Comptroller General will conduct an audit of the
initiative to ensure proper use of the funds. The audit will also result in a report with recommendations to improve the program, which is important because evaluating and improving the initiative is paramount for its continued progress.

I believe the Energy Transitions Initiative Authorization Act can further clean energy advancements in our most vulnerable communities. I urge my colleagues to join me in supporting this bill and our isolated and Tribal areas across our nation.