Hawaiian Electric Utilities accelerates the connection of new distributed energy resources with GridUnity®

Hawaiian Electric goes live with GridUnity’s Customer Engagement Portal and Engineering Automation software to streamline and accelerate DER Interconnection Applications

SAN ANTONIO, TX, @DistribuTECH, 24 Jan 2018 – GridUnity, a pioneer in distributed energy analytics software-as-a-service, announces Hawaiian Electric’s rapid expansion of its software to help the three electric utilities efficiently and reliably connect new distributed energy resources (DER) to the grid.

The Hawaiian Electric utilities are methodically transforming and automating their operations to reach the target of 100% renewables by 2040 – 5 years ahead of the original state mandated timeline. GridUnity was selected for its proven ability to accelerate DER interconnections and for its agile building blocks – enabling the Customer Services and IT business units to drive software innovation quickly as utility operations evolve.

The GridUnity solution provides Hawaiian Electric customers, and their contractors, one seamless online experience to apply, review and collaborate on interconnection applications – creating a self-service model.  This reduces the demand on call center resources and provides real-time transparency across the complete interconnection review and approval process. Under the hood, GridUnity’s market-leading engineering automation software uses cloud computing and machine learning to rapidly and thoroughly assess applications for compliance with regulatory DER interconnection requirements, freeing up the engineering team to focus on strategic grid decisions.

“We’re excited to offer a streamlined, fully automated process to our customers,” said Earlynne Maile, Manager of DER Operations, Hawaiian Electric. “The software provides customers and contractors a way to manage all their program applications, providing real-time reporting and a clear understanding of exactly where each stakeholder is in the interconnection process.” View Hawaiian Electric’s video, “Introduction to the Interconnection Tool” here.
GridUnity’s CEO Brian Fitzsimons said, “Hawaiian Electric continues to lead the way in transforming its operational model in the lead up to achieving the state’s 100% renewable energy targets. We are proud to have our software as part of Hawaiian Electric’s operations and thank the people of Hawaii for their input into innovations that will help speed the adoption of distributed energy across the globe.”