*By Amanda Weston*
Hawaii has set ambitious energy goals in the face of global warming: the state wants to run completely on renewable energy by 2045.
Connie Lau, the president and CEO of Hawaiian Electric Industries and chairman of Hawaiian Electric Company, said the shift makes economic and environmental sense.
"Hawaii for the longest time has imported a lot of fossil fuel, and so all of that is actually a big hole in our economy because we're sending all those dollars out of the state to buy imported fossil fuels," Lau said in an interview Monday on Cheddar.
The state has expanded its use of renewables from 8 percent to about 27 percent in the past decade. It's also second in the number of electric cars per capital, behind California.
Though President Trump has called for a resurgence of coal and aims to bring back industry jobs, that doesn't make much sense for Hawaii, which doesn't have direct access to fossil fuels. Lau said her company, which provides power to 95 percent of Hawaii, is committed to expanding renewables with a focus on wind and solar.
"We live in a part of the United States that has very different economics when it comes to the energy picture. So, not having coal or having natural gas or even hydro really changes the picture for us in Hawaii," Lau said. "When you're dealing with energy and you're dealing with natural resources, it's very location-specific. So you've got to really think about what you've got in your own community and what you can take advantage of."
Lau said Hawaii is on track to be 30 percent renewable by 2020, and the ultimate goal is within reach.
For full interview, [click here] (https://cms.cheddar.com/videos/VmlkZW8tMjIwMDA=).
U.S. stocks closed Thursday at their lowest levels of the trading day, as investors continue to eye inflation ahead of the May CPI report out Friday. Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist for National Holdings, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
U.S. markets opened sharply lower on Friday on hotter-than-expected inflation data. The May CPI showed an 8.6% jump in consumer prices year-over-year, higher the expected 8.3%. Mark Howard, Senior Multi-Asset Specialist at BNP Paribas joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
U.S. stocks closed Friday at session lows after May CPI data showed inflation in the U.S. has not peaked and is still rising rapidly. For the week, the S&P fell 5.06%, the Dow lost 4.58%, and the Nasdaq dropped 5.60%, marking the worst week since January for all three major indexes. Mike Zigmont, Head of Trading and Research at Harvest Volatility Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Benefits brokerage, Nava Benefits, raised $40 million in a Series B round. Nava says it's on a mission to fix healthcare, one benefits plan at a time. The startup is working to bring benefits to small business that are normally available to only Fortune 500 companies. Brandon Weber, Co-Founder and CEO of Nava Benefits, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The electric vehicle maker filed a proposal for a three-for-one stock split, increasing the accessibility of shares for investors for a stock trading at around $700 a share. The move comes not long after tech giant Amazon announced a 20-for-one split. The number of authorized shares rises from two billion to six billion. It was also revealed that board member Larry Ellison does not intend to stand for reelection as it pertains to Tesla.
President Biden proposed a new rule that would add 500,000 chargers for electric vehicles nationwide. The proposal comes amid the rapid shift to EVs with dozens of automakers announcing plans for all-electric fleets within the next decade. But with the new surge will the U.S. have the proper infrastructure to keep up? Scott Painter, founder and CEO of Autonomy.com joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss. "I really think the idea of standardization is a big deal. Standardization certainly makes it much better for everybody to be able to get a charge when they need one," he said.
