The Hawaiʻi Legislature crafted a seemingly elegant solution to a thorny problem when it passed Hawaiʻi’s shared solar program in 2015. The idea was simple: build off-site solar farms — like community gardens, but for power instead of vegetables — that middle- and low-income residents could tap into and get breaks on their electric bills.
But for Stephen Gate’s company Neighborhood Power, the program has proven to be as simple as a Gordian knot.
Neighborhood Power had ample experience operating community solar farms in other states when it opened its Kawela Plantation project on Molokaʻi in June 2023. The company operates four projects in Oregon as part of that state’s program.
