To me this is an example of extravagant and inefficient use of money.
Instead, it should have been used to find a huge pool cavity somewhere high on one of the Hawaiian mountain or enlarge one. And then pump up the water to the pool when the electricity is cheap, and release/generate electricity when it is in demand. Stupid and robust implementation that just works and certainly less expensive than $219M.
That's pretty cool - reminds me about an experiment of improving small fridge efficiency by adding insulation on the sides of the fridge. In the end it worked out favourably for energy efficiency angle.
Great points...believe it or not it happens, but privately, in a case by case manner. Also why do you think companies and founders are in the business of making employees wealthy?! What is the specific reason for all of these being implemented?