ACEF Speaker 2021

Lorraine H. Akiba

President/CEO,
LHA Ventures

Lorraine H. Akiba is President/CEO of LHA Ventures. She is a recognized thought leader with technical expertise and knowledge in the development of Hawaii’s renewable and clean energy policy and both state and federal regulatory frameworks. Given her diverse professional experience she provides senior policy advisor services in other regulated industry sectors and expertise for development of corporate environmental, social and governance goals and metrics for publicly traded companies.

Ms. Akiba works with international agencies and ministries including the Government of Barbados Ministry of Energy, Small Business and Entrepreneurship; the Inter-American Development Bank; the Asian Development Bank; and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency on energy and economic development policy activities and engagements.

She served from 2012-2018 as a commissioner on the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission which presides over all regulated public utility matters including electric, gas, private water and wastewater, telecommunications, water transportation and motor carrier transportation utilities. She continues to remain active with the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners International Committee in peer to peer regulatory review programs sponsored by USAID and the U.S. State Department.

Prior to this appointment, she worked in private practice as a law partner at McCorriston Miller Mukai MacKinnon LLP and Cades Schutte LLP. She headed the Environmental Practice Groups at both law firms with an emphasis in environmental and natural resources law in addition to her commercial and business litigation practice.

She holds many leadership roles in various national and international organizations including the City and County of Honolulu Resilience Strategy Steering Committee, the Interstate Renewable Energy Council Board of Directors and the US-Japan Council. She also is a member of the O-Power Industry Council, the Linux Foundation Energy Advisor Group, and the U.S. DOE Research Advisory Council for the LIFT Solar project.

Ms. Akiba previously served as member of the Advisory Council to the Board of Directors of the Electric Power Research Institute; the Board of Directors of the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners and its Energy Resources and Environment Committee; the U.S. DOE and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory Future Electric Utility Regulation Advisory Group and the State and Local Efficiency Action Network (SEE Network) Financial Solutions Working Group.

Ms. Akiba holds a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law and graduated with honors from the University of California at Berkeley with a B.A. in political science.

Session/Event:

  • Regional Session: Navigating the New Normal in a Fragile Pacific (ADB - Pacific Regional Department)