Florida-based NextEra is maneuvering to take over our local utility.

Hawaii greets it with aloha, but holds its breath as we learn who it is and what it intends to do.

A warm welcome to newcomers is always appropriate, but pivotal moments that will decide the future of our state also require decisive leadership and strong direction.

This is one of those moments.

Hawaii faces big energy bills and even bigger challenges. Working together, we need leadership and answers from NextEra on serious questions.

Hawaii’s energy costs have remained among the highest in the nation because of a continued reliance on imported fossil fuels. Our goal of ending this unhealthy dependence and reducing costs means transitioning to local renewable energy.

With the advent of affordable solar and home batteries, reducing costs also means our centralized utility must transform into the manager of a grid on which everyone can produce power to save money.

The time to adapt is short. Ten years ago, nobody saw the adoption of solar growing so quickly. Five years ago, nobody saw the adoption of batteries growing so quickly. Today, people are installing both and leaving the grid because it’s cheaper than paying the utility.

HECO’s plans to adapt to the free market drawing customers away from it and reduce its dependence on imported fuel have been dismissed as inadequate and have been repeatedly rejected by the state Public Utilities Commission. NextEra must act swiftly to share viable plans to overcome these challenges and benefit the public, and key questions must be answered:

» How does the utility survive when it is cheaper for customers to install solar and batteries to leave the grid?

» Some local renewables are already cheaper than liquid natural gas, and new technology will likely make them even cheaper in the future. What are the plans to move beyond new imports of LNG and ensure an end to our dependence on imported fossil fuel?

» Is NextEra going to pursue the same strategy as its parent company in Florida by aggressively pushing to roll back renewable energy goals in favor of fossil fuels, undermining efforts to promote cheaper technologies like solar photovoltaics and pushing policy changes to prevent competition and keep everyone tied to their electric grid?

I look forward to NextEra working with our local community, but this particular strategy will definitely not work in Hawaii, and I will be the first among many to stand up and fight back.

Our energy paradigm is changing so rapidly that achieving our goals of local energy security and lower prices demands leadership from everyone.

I sincerely hope NextEra will put our community first and embrace the opportunity to help Hawaii end its reliance on imported fuels, expand cheaper alternatives like solar, and lower energy costs for all.

Hawaii has waited a long time for strong leadership and answers to these critical questions from our utilities.

If there continue to be no answers, perhaps the next question people should ask is whether we would be better served by a public utility that only looks out for the public interest in cleaner energy and lower prices, rather than a private utility also trying to make a significant profit off us at the same time.