太陽能系統與電力公司陷拉鋸戰

HONOLULU — Allan Akamine has looked all around the winding, palm tree-lined cul-de-sacs of his suburban neighborhood in Miliani here on Oahu and, with an equal mix of frustration and bemusement, seen roof after roof bearing solar panels.

檀香山——在這個位於歐胡島米里拉尼郊區的社區中佈滿棕櫚樹的蜿蜒死衚衕裏，艾倫·阿卡米那(Allan Akamine)環顧四周，看到一個又一個裝着太陽能組件的屋頂，眼中透露出些許失望、些許困惑。

Akamine, 61, a manager for a cable company, has wanted nothing more than to lower his $600 to $700 monthly electric bill with a solar system of his own. But for 18 months or so, the state's biggest utility barred him and thousands of other customers from getting one, citing concerns that power generated by rooftop systems was overwhelming its ability to handle it.

61歲的阿卡米那是一家有線電視公司的經理，他非常希望通過自己的太陽能系統減少每月六七百美元（約合4000元人民幣）的電費開支。但在將近18個月的時間裏，該州最大的電力公司不允許包括他在內的數千名顧客獲得太陽能系統，稱他們擔心屋頂太陽能發電系統的發電量會超出他們的處理能力。

Only under strict orders from state energy officials did the utility, the Hawaiian Electric Company, recently rush to approve the lengthy backlog of solar applications, including Akamine's.

只有在州能源官員的嚴令之下，夏威夷電力公司(Hawaiian Electric Company)才於最近匆匆批准了長期積壓的太陽能系統使用申請，其中就包括阿卡米那一份。

It is the latest chapter in a closely watched battle that has put this state at the forefront of a global upheaval in the power business. Rooftop systems now sit atop roughly 12 percent of Hawaii's homes, according to the federal Energy Information Administration, by far the highest proportion in the nation.

這是一場受到密切關注的鬥爭的最新進展，這場鬥爭將該州置於全球電力領域劇變的前沿。據美國能源信息署(Energy Information Administration)透露，大約12%的夏威夷住戶裝有屋頂太陽能發電系統，這是到目前爲止美國太陽能系統安裝比率最高的地區，遠超其他州。

“Hawaii is a postcard from the future,” said Adam Browning, executive director of Vote Solar, a policy and advocacy group based in California.

總部位於加利福尼亞的政策及宣傳組織“力挺太陽能”(Vote Solar)的執行理事亞當·布朗寧(Adam Browning)說，“夏威夷是一張來自未來的明信片。”

Other states and countries, including California, Arizona, Japan and Germany, are struggling to adapt to the growing popularity of making electricity at home, which puts new pressures on old infrastructure like circuits and power lines and cuts into electric company revenue.

其他州和國家——比如加利福尼亞州、亞利桑那州、日本和德國——正在努力適應自主發電愈發普遍的情況，這給電路、輸電線等老舊的基礎設施造成新壓力，致使電力公司的收入減少。

As a result, many utilities are trying desperately to stem the rise of solar, either by reducing incentives, adding steep fees or effectively pushing home solar companies out of the market. In response, those solar companies are fighting back through regulators, lawmakers and the courts.

因此，很多電力公司極力阻止太陽能系統的推廣，它們要麼減少激勵措施、增加高昂的收費，要麼將提供家用太陽能系統的公司基本擠出市場。作爲迴應，這些太陽能公司通過監管機構、律師和法院進行回擊。

The shift in the electric business is no less profound than those that upended the telecommunications and cable industries in recent decades. It is already remaking the relationship between power companies and the public while raising questions about how to pay for maintaining and operating the nation's grid.

與近幾十年顛覆電信及有線電視產業的轉變一樣，電力領域的轉變產生了同樣深遠的影響。這種轉變正在改變電力公司與公衆之間的關係，同時帶來了相關問題——如何支付維護和運營國家電網的費用。

The issue is not merely academic, electrical engineers say.

電氣工程師表示，這不僅僅是理論問題。

In solar-rich areas of California and Arizona, as well as in Hawaii, all that solar-generated electricity flowing out of houses and into a power grid designed to carry it in the other direction has caused unanticipated voltage fluctuations that can overload circuits, burn lines and lead to brownouts or blackouts.

在加利福尼亞州、亞利桑那州及夏威夷州這些陽光充足的地區，太陽能發的電從住宅輸出，進入將電流引向另一個方向的電力網，這種電流帶來了出乎意料的電壓波動，可能會使電路超載，燒燬電線，導致限制用電或停電。

“Hawaii's case is not isolated,” said Massoud Amin, a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Minnesota and chairman of the smart grid program at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, a technical association. “When we push year on year 30 to 40 percent growth in this market, with the number of installations doubling, quickly — every two years or so — there's going to be problems.”

“夏威夷的情況並不是孤立的，”明尼蘇達州大學(University of Minnesota)電氣工程及計算機工程教授、電氣電子工程師學會(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers)智能電網項目負責人馬蘇德·阿明(Massoud Amin)說。“當我們推動這個市場每年增長30%至40%，每兩年安裝數量迅速翻倍時，就會出現問題。”

The economic threat also has electric companies on edge. Overall, demand for electricity is softening while home solar is rapidly spreading across the country. There are now about 600,000 installed systems, and the number is expected to reach 3.3 million by 2020, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.

這種經濟風險也讓電力公司感到不安。總的來說，在家用太陽能系統在全國範圍能迅速流行的時候，電力需求有所減緩。據太陽能行業協會(Solar Energy Industries Association)透露，目前已經安裝的太陽能系統達到了60萬個，這個數字有望在2020年達到330萬。

In Hawaii, the current battle began in 2013, when Hawaiian Electric started barring installations of residential solar systems in certain areas. It was an abrupt move — a panicked one, critics say — made after the utility became alarmed by the technical and financial challenges of all those homes suddenly making their own electricity.

夏威夷的這場鬥爭始於2013年，當時夏威夷電力公司開始阻攔某些區域的居民安裝太陽能系統。該電力公司對住戶突然自主發電帶來的技術和經濟挑戰感到非常擔心，於是做出了這一出人意料的舉動，批評人士稱之爲驚慌失措的反應。

The utility wants to cut roughly in half the amount it pays customers for solar electricity they send back to the grid. But after a study showed that with some upgrades the system could handle much more solar than the company had assumed, the state's public utilities commission ordered the utility to begin installations or prove why it could not.

電力公司應該爲顧客輸送回電網的太陽能電力支付費用，該電力公司想要將價格減半。但一項研究顯示，電力公司系統升級後可以處理遠超過原本設想的太陽能電力。因此，該州的公共事業委員會命令該電力公司開始安裝太陽能系統，否則就要證明無法安裝的原因。

It was but one sign of the agency's growing impatience with what it considers the utility's failure to adapt its business model to the changing market.

這只是一個跡象，說明委員會對該公司越來越不耐煩，他們認爲該公司沒能改變商業模式，以適應不斷變化的市場。

Hawaiian Electric is scrambling to accede to that demand, approving thousands of applications in recent weeks. But it is under pressure on other fronts as well. NextEra Energy, based in Florida, is awaiting approval to buy it, while other islands it serves are exploring defecting to form their own cooperative power companies.

夏威夷電力公司正在匆忙行動，來適應相關需求，在最近幾周通過了數千份申請。但該公司在其他方面也面臨壓力。總部位於佛羅里達州的NextEra能源公司(NextEra Energy)正在等待收購該公司的計劃獲得通過，而其他接收該公司電力服務的島嶼正在尋求自立，創設自己的電力合作公司。

Installers — who saw their fast-growing businesses slow to a trickle — are also frustrated with the pace. For those who can afford it, said James Whitcomb, chief executive of Haleakala Solar, which he started in 1977, the answer may lie in a more radical solution: Avoid the utility and its grid altogether.

安裝公司看到快速增加的業務逐漸放緩，也對進度感到不滿。哈雷阿卡拉太陽能公司(Haleakala Solar)首席執行官詹姆斯·惠特科姆(James Whitcomb)表示，對於那些能夠負擔得起的人來說，可能有一個比較激進的解決方案：避開這家電力公司和它的電網。惠特科姆在1977年創立了哈雷阿卡拉。

Customers are increasingly asking about the batteries that he often puts in along with the solar panels, allowing them to store the power they generate during the day for use at night. It is more expensive, but it breaks consumer reliance on the utility's network of power lines.

顧客越來越多地問及他常常裝入太陽能組件的電池，這種電池使得太陽能系統能夠儲存白天發的電，以供夜間使用。這種太陽組件比較貴，但打破了顧客對該公司電力網的依賴。

“I've actually taken people right off the grid,” he said, including a couple who got tired of waiting for Hawaiian Electric to approve their solar system and expressed no interest in returning to utility service. “The lumbering big utilities that are so used to taking three months to study this and then six months to do that — what they don't understand is that things are moving at the speed of business. Like with digital photography — this is inevitable.”

“我實際上幫助人們擺脫了電網，”他說。“行動遲緩的大型電力公司習慣花三個月的時間進行研究，然後再花六個月採取行動，他們並不瞭解，事情隨着商業發展的變化而變化。就像數碼攝影一樣，這是不可避免的。”擺脫電力網的人中包括一對厭煩等待夏威夷電力公司批准過程的夫婦，他們表示無意重新使用電力公司的服務。