2020 Stanford Energy Internships in California and the West: Hawaii Public Utilities Commission
State- and city-level efforts are essential in our fight against climate change, especially in the field of energy. Stanford Energy Internships in California and the West (SEICW)—an energy-related summer internship program—places some of Stanford University’s best students in key and influential positions in the local energy and climate-related ecosystem. This position is funded. You will be the only SEICW intern placed with the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission in Honolulu, HI.
The program runs from Monday, June 22, 2020 to Friday, August 28, 2020.
Organization/Agency mission or role in state government
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission’s (HPUC) primary duty is to protect the public interest by overseeing and regulating public utilities to ensure that they provide reliable service at just and reasonable rates. HPUC regulates all chartered, franchised, certificated, and registered public utility companies operating in the State; reviews and approves rates, tariffs, charges and fees; determines the allowable rate of earnings in establishing rates; issues guidelines concerning the general management of franchised or certificated utility businesses; and acts on requests for the acquisition, sale, disposition or other exchange of utility properties, including mergers and consolidations.
The Integrated Grid Planning (IGP) process is a comprehensive energy planning process initiated by the Hawaiian Electric (HECO) Companies. The goal of the IGP process is to identify the best options to affordably move Hawaii toward a reliable, resilient clean energy future with minimal risk. More information on the Integrated Grid Process can be found on Hawaiian Electric’s website.
Assignment
A Stanford Energy Intern working with the Office of Chair Griffin at the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission will have the opportunity to work on the Integrated Grid Planning (IGP) docket doing a detailed review/analysis related to one of the seven working groups: Standardized Contracts, Competitive Procurement, Forecast Assumptions, Distribution Planning, Grid Services, Resilience, and Solution Evaluation & Optimization.
By Spring 2020, the working groups will be submitting deliverables for stakeholder/regulatory review and the Hawaiian Electric (HECO) companies will begin their detailed grid planning analyses. For the project, the intern will select a working group of interest in coordination with the HPUC mentors and:
- Perform detailed review of completed work products and ongoing planning analyses in the associated area,
- Provide recommendations to the HPUC in a written memo.
The intern will work closely with the HPUC docket team and Chair Griffin.
Potential Mentors
- James Griffin, Chair
- David Parsons, Chief of Policy and Research
- Strong research skills
- Writing and public speaking skills are highly desired
- All SEICW students must be enrolled in the spring quarter before their SEICW internship. Absolutely no exceptions are made to this rule.
- All SEICW students must take a one-unit workshop spring course, 'Energy Policy in California' taught by Bruce Cain and Sally Benson that will provide an in-depth analysis of the role of California state agencies, the Western Interstate Energy Board, and the Western Electricity Coordinating Council in driving energy policy development, technology innovation, and market structures. Course number is CEE 263G / POLISCI 73 / PUBLPOL 73. This course must be taken in person.
Please note that this opportunity is for graduate students. Interested undergraduates can apply for other SEICW opportunities via SIG.
