Hawaii Energy Connection Comments on Battery Bonus Program That is Driving Increased Demand for Solar+Storage

OAHU, Hawaii, Sept. 10, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Hawaii Energy Connection (“HEC”), one of Hawaii’s leading solar and storage solution installers that has agreed to be acquired by Pineapple Energy LLC (“Pineapple”), today reiterated its support for the green energy initiatives undertaken this summer by the Hawaii Electric Company (“HECO”) and the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (“HPUC”).

HEC Managing Partner Chris DeBone commented, “We applaud and support HECO in its commitment to a cleaner future for Hawaii as it closes the last coal-fired power plant on Oahu, which generates 12% of the state’s electricity. As Hawaii moves to even higher levels of distributed renewable generation, HECO is wisely implementing a demand response system to handle emergencies.”

DeBone continued, “We support the ‘virtual power plant’ approach that the HPUC and HECO have established to help augment the utility scale solar that will be HECO’s primary source of power supply growth. With one of the highest penetration rates of rooftop solar in the country, Hawaii is a natural proving ground to add home-based storage that can consistently feed the grid over a full day cycle, when needed. HECO’s upfront payment incentive to add storage to existing installations, or to use for new solar+storage installations, is driving adoption of this innovative solution.”

DeBone concluded, “The HPUC/HECO incentive plan is functioning as intended. HEC is seeing some of its highest lead volumes ever, as potential customers inquire about how to contribute to this effort. HEC is mobilizing its sales and marketing teams to answer homeowner questions and propose installation designs that can utilize the HECO incentives while lowering homeowners’ cost of power. This program is a win for customers, a win for the state, and a win for all solar+storage installers, including HEC. HEC is in a strong position to lead this effort statewide, given our proprietary technology, deep knowledge of the HPUC and HECO processes, and large and happy installed base.”

Kyle Udseth, CEO of HEC merger partner Pineapple Energy, added, “This program is an early realization of our vision of how distributed solar+storage will integrate into and augment the grid of tomorrow through ‘virtual power plants’. Pineapple’s interest in Hawaii is driven in part by this shared vision of grid integration; we see Hawaii as a proving ground for innovations that we can later bring to the mainland. We believe we can leverage the expertise at HEC and E-Gear, our first two acquisitions, to establish a leadership position nationwide in this emerging and exciting trend.”

About Pineapple Energy LLC

Pineapple Energy was founded to acquire and grow leading local and regional solar, storage, and energy services companies nationwide. Pineapple’s vision is to power the energy transition through grass-roots growth of solar electricity paired with battery storage on consumers' homes. Pineapple puts the customer at the heart of everything it does, building long-term relationships to create and share in recurring revenue from the electric grid of the future. Pineapple's cornerstone acquisitions of certain assets of Sungevity and Horizon Solar Power in December 2020 brought an installed customer base of 44,000+ solar customers across 12 states.

On March 2, 2021, Communications Systems, Inc. (“CSI”) entered into a definitive merger agreement with Pineapple. A meeting of CSI's shareholders to approve the merger agreement with Pineapple is expected to be held later in 2021. Pineapple expects to close its purchase of Hawaii Energy Connection and E-Gear concurrently with the closing of the CSI-Pineapple merger. For more information about the CSI-Pineapple merger, other recent developments with respect to CSI and Pineapple and certain factors related the merger, go to https://www.commsystems.com/2021/03/02/communications-systems-inc-announces-agreement-to-merge-with-pineapple-energy-llc/.