Lahaina Energy Partnership

The Lahaina Energy Partnership is supporting energy planning and rebuilding efforts in Hawaii's historic town of Lahaina on Maui, with technical assistance provided by NREL.

This effort is in response to the 2023 wildfires that damaged or destroyed more than two thousand structures and claimed more than one hundred lives.

NREL is providing technical assistance to support energy planning and decision-making as part of the rebuilding effort, based on community priorities. Technical assistance will explore options related to building local energy resources, rebuilding highly efficient and microgrid-ready buildings, designing and analyzing microgrids, and planning and hardening the distribution grid. Technical assistance will also support implementation planning through analysis of crosscutting topics including workforce development and job training, the policy and regulatory landscape, and funding and financing options.

To inform the scope of the Lahaina Energy Partnership technical assistance, NREL has partnered with Hawaii-based community engagement organizations to connect with Lahaina residents, business owners, and other stakeholders. Lāhainā Strong, Hā Sustainability and Shake Energy Collaborative are conducting on-the-ground engagement efforts to understand the community's energy priorities and vision for the future. A report on Lahaina community-identified energy pathways is available from Lāhainā Strong.

This NREL presentation highlights the Lahaina community's energy priorities reported by our partners and the technical assistance scope of work by topic to be completed by NREL by January 2027. 

Community role: Local partners convene the Lahaina community to identify energy solutions of interest and inform a scope of technical assistance.
National lab role: National labs conduct analysis to assist the Lahaina community in assessing opportunities and risks for energy planning and rebuilding.

As part of the community engagement effort, NREL prepared introductory materials about energy topics, including the Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy for New Home Construction in Maui fact sheet, which was initially shared at a community meeting with more than 200 attendees in May of 2024.

NREL developed a presentation on the Lahaina energy context to support informed community co-creation of a plan for Lahaina's energy goals. Local community partners will lead development of additional educational materials throughout the project. 

Lahaina community members are encouraged to contact us with questions or sign up for regular updates by completing this form or emailing [email protected].