Before

For Molokai Drugs, Inc., the goal was to save money with less costly electricity.

But it was not just for the business. Cuttisng costs for business should cut costs for customers as well, company President Kimberly Mikami Svetin said.

It’s what happened.

A pair of photovoltaic systems generating more than 76 kilowatts when the sun is shining on Kaunakakai cut energy costs for Molokai Drugs operations, allowing the family-owned business to lower prices on over-the-counter products at its pharmacy and store and the Kamoi Snack-n-Go ice cream shop.

“We expect over 60 percent of the energy consumed by our pharmacy to be produced by solar/sun this fall, once our new energy-efficient air conditioner is installed to cool our 3,700-square-foot store,” said Svetin, who returned to Molokai from a career as a business consultant to take over the pharmacy business her grandfather founded in 1935.

Mid-way

She said the PV systems installed with a $45,000 federal Renewable Energy Development grant and better utilization of Young Brothers for shipping allowed the Molokai business to reduce costs of its operations.

Svetin will be among the presenters on the potential for new energy technologies to help residents, businesses and communities at the Maui County Energy Expo 2009 being held Thursday Sept. 10 and Friday Sept. 11 at the Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa.

She’s part of the panel that will offer real experiences in gains from energy technologies, “Models of Reality: Progress reports on energy programs of government, a nonprofit, a small business, a developer, a homeowner and a hotel.” It will be held during the morning session on Sept. 10.

“Molokai Drugs and the Mikami family are a concrete example of how a small business can utilize the technologies available today to reduce its costs and pass on the savings to the community,” said Jeanne Unemori Skog, president of the Maui Economic Development Board – a partner with the Maui County Office of Economic Development in sponsoring Energy Expo 2009.

Pau

“Kim Mikami Svetin and her family demonstrate the truth of the Expo theme, ‘Our Energy Future: From Concept to Reality.’ They and other presenters at the Energy Expo will have information that all of Maui Nui can use in moving to a future that is less dependent on fossil fuels and more healthy for the environment of Hawaii.”

Mayor Charmaine Tavares said the Energy Expo will deal with key concerns that Maui County will face in moving to a new energy future, including removing disincentives to development of renewable energy alternatives and providing incentives for residents and businesses to look at energy efficiency and energy conservation as long-term benefits even when they may involve short-term costs.

Maui County government already is using technologies that increase energy efficiency of county operations while it participates in a national study of the energy cost savings possible through new systems to power vehicles, she said.

Tavares has been a primary test driver for a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) assigned to Maui County that is one of 187 test vehicles tracked by the Idaho National Laboratory for a U.S. Department of Energy program, the Advanced Vehicle Testing Activity. The test vehicle utilizes a second battery that can be recharged in four hours when plugged into a standard electric outlet.

On top of da PVT world!

“The PHEV Prius test car that I am driving now as part of the Idaho National Laboratory’s testing and data gathering on this particular battery is evidence of my commitment to renewable energy,” Tavares said. “I hope that we move to all electric vehicles as quickly as possible but until we have the infrastructure, charging stations like gas stations, the combined electric-gas vehicles are good transition vehicles.”

Where it can, Maui County, like Molokai Drugs, is taking steps to cuts its energy use to be able to pass on savings to taxpayers and rate payers, she said.

“The Department of Water Supply and the Department of Environmental Management are the two largest users of electricity. They both have, as part of their regular maintenance schedules, replaced equipment like blowers, filters and other motors with more efficient equipment — equipment that uses less electricity,” Tavares said. “These accomplishments have been recognized by the induction of the County into Maui Electric Company’s “Energy Efficient Hall of Fame”.

The County and MEDB sponsored an Energy Expo in 2007, “Green Power/Green Future,” that led to formation of the Maui County Energy Alliance. Five working groups set up through the Alliance have spent several months examining issues in the effort to develop alternatives to dependence on fossil fuels for Hawaii. The working groups will present their reports and recommendations as part of Energy Expo 2009 – another step to a healthier, less volatile energy future for Maui County.

“Since mid-2008, our departments have been actively pursuing ways to reduce electric and fuel costs” Tavares said.

While the 2008 national economic downturn has had a severe impact on government revenues, Tavares said Maui County continues to pursue projects that can help to reduce costs while promoting a cleaner environment. The effort includes applications for funding provided by the American Recovery & Rehabilitation Act of 2009, including a piece of the $16.8 billion allocated for energy efficiency and renewable energy. “We have submitted a grant for federal stimulus funds to further energy efficiency for some county facilities,” Tavares said.

While the County waits on federal funds for energy projects, Molokai Drugs has made full use of the funds it received through a U.S. Department of Agriculture program to assist rural areas in energy redevelopment.

The grant provided two 20.5 kilowatt PV generators installed on the Molokai Drugs facility with a 35.67 kilowatt system set up for the Kamoi Snack-n-Go operation beginning in 2007. The solar arrays provide 31 percent of the electricity needed for Molokai Drugs and 96 percent of the power used by Kamoi Snack-n-Go.

“Our prices at Kamoi Snack-n-Go for ice cream, Icees, candy, etc., are comparable to prices at similar Honolulu snack shops — even with Young Brothers/Matson/Kamaka shipping included — because we have been able to more effectively manage our operating costs,” Svetin said.

She is proud to be heading the oldest and one of the last independent pharmacies operating in Hawaii. She is even more proud to be able to provide for the community in which she grew up by returning to manage the business.

A graduate of Molokai High School and Pomona College in Claremont, Calif., Svetin has a diverse professional career, working for U.S. Sen. Daniel Akaka, Hill & Knowlton public relations, the American Lung Association, PacRim Marketing Group, Starr Seigle Communications, Hilton Resorts Hawaii and The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co.

She had established her own business consulting service in Washington before she opted to return to Molokai in 2005 with her husband and two sons to help her family – and to help her community.