Joseph Saturnia's Page

With the proliferation of solar energy projects here in Hawai‘i, there has been a growing number of offers to local investors to invest in local renewable energy projects. These projects usually involve tax credits, passive losses and other incentives with returns ranging from 10-20%. Investors should be cautious when evaluating such projects. Since the returns on a renewable energy project depend heavily on an investor’s ability to qualify and use…

Much has been made of the proposed Feed In Tariff for renewable energy for Hawaii. Unfortunately, the Feed in Tariff is another example of a policy that draws big headlines but does little to move the State

toward energy independence.

For those of you unfamiliar with the term, a Feed In Tariff (or FIT) is type of incentive used to encourage the development of renewable energy. A FIT mandates a local utility to…