Illuminating the Benefits of Clean Energy with Go Local Powur with Ryno Irwin

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Interview Transcription

ADRIENNE: 
Welcome back, and thanks for listening to the team Lally real estate show home of the guaranteed sold program or we’ll buy it I’m Adrienne and I’m Attilio. And if you have any questions, just give us a call at 7999596 or check us out online at Teamlally.com.

ATTILIO:

Today’s guest moved to Maui when he was seven and remained on the island until high school. After a stint on the mainland, he returned to Maui for college.

ADRIENNE:

18 years ago, he made the move to Oahu for a career in construction where he met met his wife during his house blessing. He embarked on his entrepreneurial journey in 2006 by establishing a construction business in Makaha. Please welcome today’s guest, Ryno Irwin. Hey, Ryno.

ATTILIO:

Aloha. Aloha. Hey, welcome. Welcome. Welcome. So the first thing that we want to get into is, you know, tell us a little bit more about your background in construction with maybe some bigger name companies that people would recognize that you’ve been involved with. Absolutely.

RYNO: 
So I actually started while I was in college doing some, some reset work, which means you’re just changing the products that are on shelves and building display. And then when once I moved to Oahu I started a company called Hawaii Retail Services where we would do the build outs for chain retail stores that were coming into the Hawaii market, like Home Depot, Lowe’s Ross Dress for last Starbucks and CVS as long as drugs.

ATTILIO: 
Awesome. So your your been working with some main major corporations with what you do. And then what made you guys get into the HVAC business?

RYNO: 
Yeah, so we it was kind of the right time at the right place scenario. We after we completed the build outs, those same companies asked us to continue to maintain the stores ongoingly for them. And so we had contracts or we obtained contracts to manage their facilities, front to back top to bottom, the challenge that we had was getting reliable vendors to show up in schools and keep our customers happy. Yeah,

ATTILIO: 
you guys learned it.

ADRIENNE:

So you have like you have all this the services for like the commercial side. Now you guys also provide some residential services. Yes, let’s talk about that because I know a lot of our listeners own homes and Did you know they could use some of those services? That’s

RYNO: 
yeah, that’s correct. So yeah, we build out our own skilled forces and obtain licenses and air conditioning, garage doors, electrical and plumbing. So we provide garage door services, we provide air conditioning. And we also provide solar for residentials. Yeah,

ADRIENNE: 
you guys have a bit of a unique story, I think all around. And I just want to point out to our listeners that we met Ryno and his wife, Duckie, through the initial connection was through the PSI, yes, seminars and like they had been attending the same training as one of our team members. So we’re very grateful.

ATTILIO:

And you guys have gone through all the leadership levels of training that are in PSI. So I, the message I want to send out to the people right now is that we’re like, you know, we really highly successful business people, we’ve incorporated this into our business as a success training and our culture development for our companies. So I know, you’re like crazy cousin who keeps mentioning psi, but we’re gonna be that other one that says, Yeah, you need to go.

ADRIENNE:

And then also that Ryno and our teams, we operate in the same way where we send our team members to the PSI basic, and then, and then Ryno, what do you do for your,

your team members? Yes.

RYNO: 
Yeah, absolutely. I mean, I can’t say enough how much it’s helped my wife, Duckie, and I just, you know, if the term that they use if you’re, if you’re not growing, you’re decaying, and it’s so true, you always want to continue to keep the mind sharp and continue learning forever a student. So I support it so much that, you know, we offer all of our team members to be able to go through that PSI basic courses that three day transformational experiential seminar, I think you guys know, all too well how much it can change the trajectory of your life in the right direction.

ATTILIO: 
So our personal change, and also it’s been in Hawaii for over 50 years. That’s got to say something in itself been in Hawaii for over 50 years. But transitioning now into the

ADRIENNE:

well, let’s talk about the other thing they do for the community with

ATTILIO:

Duckie and the nonprofit. Talk about what’s your wife’s doing with that nonprofit? vocational school?

RYNO: 
Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, we put our roots down are in Makaha, and my wife is Makaha girl. And what we really started to look at, you know, internally is, you know, how can we be more helpful for our community? How can we make not just a difference today, but a generational shift and change for the better for our community. And so we started a nonprofit called the Makaha Learning Center, which is focused on trade development for our Native Hawaiians and US primarily on the Leeward Coast. But our programs have now reached out all the way to Molokai, as well. And so it’s focused on, you know, certifications in the trades, general constructions, and we have a renewable energy certification course as well.

ADRIENNE: 
Yeah. No, I know, like we’ve had Youth Challenge on as a guest before. And I think that your Makaha Learning Center has some kind of, like a partnership or connection or connection with the kids that want to learn a trade while they’re going.

ATTILIO:

Yeah, tell us about that connection.

RYNO: 
Yeah, so we, we did a class was about last year, and I think it included 15 to 20 Youth Challenge kids. And we were so proud because we got every single one of those kids through the certification program, which they didn’t think we could do, but we were able to be successful with it.

ATTILIO: 
Yeah. Yeah, that’s important because they are future the youth and I like the fact that you guys are local business people with local ties, and not only making money in the community, which is nothing wrong with that, but you’re also supporting it with this nonprofit and getting these kids getting gainfully employed. Right. And, and you’re the island that’s challenging.

ADRIENNE:

Any, you’ve kept your operations on that side. So let’s, let’s talk about that. Why do you remember why do

ATTILIO:

you keep it over there?

RYNO: 
Oh, well, it all started with a humble 500 square foot office as the old coordinates building, which is kind of an icon for the Makaha community. And we’ve grown over the years, you know, to our office space and our warehouse to 26,000 square foot facility. And people continually ask us, you know, why are you out here? Why do you continue to keep your operations out here? Why don’t you move it, you know, into Kapolei or somewhere else more convenient for everybody else? You know, our answer to that is, you know, we really have become a pillar We’re in the community where the third largest private employer on the Leeward Coast. And we just feel it’s, it’s, it’s our duty now to continue to be able to provide job opportunities, you know, out in the labor costs locally for our community. Awesome.

ATTILIO: 
That’s, that’s about giving back. So you know, here’s what we, you know, we always say if you’re going to be in business with people or support them, or recommend them, take a look at who the people are and what they’re doing. And so that’s awesome that you guys are doing it. Alright, so let’s get into the nitty gritty here, people are going to be like, you remember that was that movie Inside Out where they had all the different characters with different emotions, human emotions. So with the new electric bill, we’re gonna see people being the, what is it the angry emotion with the flames coming out of their head and the steam shooting out other years? I

ADRIENNE:

mean, I’m seeing stuff like people talking about next door, they’re noticing these big jumps in there.

ATTILIO:

Just drive down the street at the time of the month when the electric bills come in, and all you’re gonna hear is like when they get the electric bill open, that’s literally what you’re going to hear from the street. So talk about what what is this time of use?

RYNO: 
Time of Use is what the utility vehicle is rolling out right now. It’s the biggest rate change from from my understanding that they’ve had in a century. Yeah. And the way the way that it works is they are trying to get our combine our residents to shift the way they use energy, by incentivizing them with lower rates during the day. And then when they’re at work already. Yeah, exactly. Right. Yeah. And then from five to nine, the rates go up by multiplications. So it’s right now that the rates are talking about 59 cents per kilowatt hour after 5pm to 9pm and nine to five, it’ll be about 40 cents a kilowatt hour. And then during that daytime, window, and like when you mentioned, people are mostly at work, not at home using energy, it’s going to be somewhere in the mid 20 cents per kilowatt hour rate. Gotcha.

ATTILIO: 
So and explain to people the logic of that, because I explained that to people and you know, some people are like, is that illegal? I’m like, No, it’s It’s happening. It’s happening. It’s not illegal, because it’s, it’s first of all, folks, it’s a public utility. They don’t make changes to they go before board and it’s approved. They’re not just willy nilly doing stuff. So there’s proposals, research data, right. It’s not like, Hey, I think our Monday we should read the read. No, no, they did the research, and they got to offset it. That’s exactly what they sound like when they’re talking about. Yeah, I think we should know, that’s not the process is going through, why are the rates going up?

RYNO: 
So the rates are going up is because, you know, as a state, we have aggressive goals to reach 100% renewable energy by 2045. Yeah, and the way that the utility and a lot of the state support has, you know, Chow or targeted that is by building these large solar farms that are generating megawatt hours of energy during the day. However, so that gives us an excess of renewable energy, but we still need lots of energy at night. So battery systems have come into play on large scale. But what they’re, you know, trying to do is is by monetarily incentivizing us to use more energy in the day and less at night, but that’s not really what’s, in my opinion, realistic for our lives.

ATTILIO: 
Well, the other thing too 30% of the homes on Oahu who have solar, so that leaves the 70% coal in the bill. And it’s not like you’re forced to hold it because you have a choice. You can go get solar, and I can come home and do your cook dinner and wash your laundry in the daytime. But

ADRIENNE:

like with the with the solar programs, there’s been a little bit of stigma, that they’re scams that you got these kids, and they’re here today gone tomorrow, and

ATTILIO:

they’re not even from here, but they know how to say auntie and uncle, Uncle, you get solar. And you’re like, Yeah, you know, and then because here’s the stories that people hear and it sticks around. You know, negative stories will stick around forever multigenerational good news. Oh, everybody’s quiet. Crickets chirping. So that’s the challenge is that? Yeah. Is that people thinking that solar is a scam and you see it on all the social media commercials. The government is paying for your solar. It’s baloney. That’s just marketing to get you to call in. They are somewhat offsetting it. Tell them about the federal federal tax credit I think till 2032 is how much

RYNO: 
is 30% federal tax credit?

ATTILIO: 
No limit right. So if I have a $2 million solar system, I’m getting a $600,000 tax credit. Now again, people think that most doctors even if it was 30,000 on 100 grand, there’s the odd one out 30,000 in taxes. My understanding, correct me if I’m wrong, he carries forward up to five years. That’s correct. Yeah, I did my whole

ADRIENNE: 
like, on that note, Ryno, I know that you’ve been in the solar industry for over 10 years. Yeah. And a trusted resource. There’s something new that your company has brought to the market to help with affordability. Yeah. Let’s talk a little bit about that. That platform. Yeah,

RYNO: 
yes. Yeah. So when you know, when COVID hit, we all have our COVID story, right, we were doing a lot of commercial, solar, but we transition our focus into residential, and what really, I dived in headfirst, you know, really want to make sure I understood every single aspect about the industry. And what really bothered me about it was not only do we have a lot of outsiders coming in from the mainland to sell solar aggressively to our residents. But they’re not solar professionals. They’re their salespeople, and they don’t know how to properly size the system, which is so important, because that’s where the value is really gained. And so we wanted to make solar more inclusive for our community and to have our community benefit financially from this energy transition, not just from their electric bill savings, but by helping other homeowners go solar. And so we were introduced to a platform on the mainland called powur. And it’s a fulfillment platform and a referral platform. So my wife and I Duckie, made it our mission for a year to convince power to partner with us to come to Hawaii. Yes. And offer this platform solution to our residents here.

ATTILIO:
With a local flavor, what’s the local flavor of it?

RYNO: 
If it’s called Go Local Powur. Yeah. Powur? Is our the Hawaii version of the platform Go Local Powur, when that’s power with the U. And what we say is the difference is you and the power. Yeah. And the way that it works is, is it we get the access to the best equipment, at the best prices and the best financing options at the best rates by leveraging the whole entire platform that’s being utilized across the country. Yeah. So for once we get better than payment pricing either, even here in Hawaii, utilizing the platform.

ADRIENNE: 
Usually everything’s more expensive.

ATTILIO:

You also Domino’s commercial $10, large pepperoni pizza, come get it right now. Except Hawaii and Alaska.

RYNO: 42:48
Yes, exactly. So this is, you know, it’s an online platform. It’s a disruptor. And it gives us access to that equipment, you know, at the best prices. And then what I love about it is it makes this industry inclusive for everybody. And the way that it works is when you enroll on the platform, you do some training about six to eight hours. I know a guy that just finished here’s how it was that Attilio

ATTILIO: 
I did it. That’s why in case I’m on Jeopardy, and I’m gonna go 300 for green energy. You’ll know what are the grids of the United States?

RYNO: 
Well, go ahead. Yeah, so So yeah.

ATTILIO:
So stunning, my humor.

RYNO: 
Yeah, and then once you get that certification, you’ve become what they call a tier one certified as a tier one certified agent on the platform, you can refer other people to some you can submit their bill onto the platform to have a free analysis and savings report completed. And it will be reviewed and designed by a solar professional. And then it will be presented to whoever you refer to a client a homeowner. And when they go through the savings analysis, I call it the solar IQ test. A very simple process. You simply you can you can see do you want to continue to stay with your utility and like a bad landlord and rent your power from from the utility and and pay 15% rent increases on average per year? Over the last 15 years? Or do you want to take control of your energy costs and inflation proof your your energy costs and go solar?

ATTILIO:
You know I’ve seen this. I’ve seen this IQ test one of the questions they show you two videos. The first video is the guy getting the solar getting his electric bill without solar and you see the homeowner open up the elephant at the envelope and he goes to show you the second video the guy with a solar and he opens up his electric bill and he goes Which homeowner would you like to be? I

ADRIENNE: 
would say if you want to be if you want to be the Chee ho homeowner, send us a copy of your electric bill. Yeah. info@Teamlally.com Yeah. And we’ll get you a quote,

ATTILIO: 
you know, because parents right now, you select your bills too high, we’re gonna have to put up one of the kids for adoption. Keep the kids let us review your electric bill. That is only thing we leave the children save the keiki. Let us review your electric bill. Because I tell you, this is not joking around when bills come due that time of the month. Yeah, I’m not talking about the time of the month for the ladies. But I’m talking about the time of the month for every household when the bills come down, it is proven that the stress levels in that household and the way we communicate each other, just change negatively. And even that other time of the month too. But that has nothing to do with the bills. But that’s another show. But anyway, so get control of your energy costs. That’s all we telling you. That’s

RYNO: 
right. And that is and that is the second highest cost of running a household in Hawaii is your electricity for the mortgage. So yeah, absolutely send in their bill, to Team Lally and let us do a free evaluation and see if solar makes sense. Even if you thought you couldn’t afford it before, or you couldn’t qualify. Again, this platform provides us a lot of different options that we can help homeowners start saving money from day one.

ADRIENNE: 
So a lot of new options are available because of this new platform. I know. I’ve heard out Ryno talk about this. He kind of compares it to like Amazon. Yeah. Amazon of solar. The Amazon

ATTILIO;

of solar. Yeah. I don’t even know what that means. It sounds good, though. It means buying power.

RYNO: 
Yeah, yeah. The banks are taxi, Uber, right? No, we’re not not necessarily hailing a taxi anymore. Yeah, we just simply call up our ride. And that’s the way this works. We have customized solutions for our homeowners. And we’re able to leverage that, that that buying power to get the best prices, best options. And so it’s a great way for our homeowners to get in and start saving, even when they thought they couldn’t

ADRIENNE: 
before. And I just want to also point out that we are doing a little bit of info session on Saturday with Ryno and Duckie

ATTILIO: 
Ryno and Duckie so easy on the west side is the best side because it’s Saturday what time

ADRIENNE: 
November 11, from 430 to 630.

ATTILIO: 
Wait, let me let me put some west side on that from 430 to 630. And we are located at the Keller Williams office over there between Doraku, and the Crab Shack. So if you’re gonna get sushi, you got to show you all over your fingers, or maybe at the Crab Shack and you got those buttery fingers. We have diaper white when you come in, and then you come get educated. You know what, you’re an agent, Ryno and I have talked about this, you know, we have a code of ethics that we’re held to we’re held to a higher standard than the guy is when we buy houses with a sign on the telephone pole. We have a higher standard. And I think it’s our ethical responsibility to circle back you realtors and go talk to your clients and help educate them about some opportunities regarding their electric bills are going to go through the roof help people not get priced out. And you know, when you come from contribution to circle back with your clients, they’re more likely to refer business to you or want to stay in business with you or use you the next time they need to buy or sell real estate. So this is for realtors, or real for realtors. Even if you’re not a realtor, you can still come check it out this program but especially you realtors, especially you realtors, because at the end of this session again November 11 430, to 630 at our Keller Williams office between the Doraku and the Crab Shack, the crab shack over there by Julie Z’s if you’d like Filipino food, but it’s over there in Kapolei. And what’s gonna happen is, you’re gonna go through Ryno, you and Duckie you’re gonna go through a presentation about solar. And then Adrienne and I, you know, we opposites operate at a high level with our real estate business. So we’ll do a little mini mastermind after that, on how you can incorporate what we just taught you into getting more buyers and sellers for your business. Because if our industry was Game of Thrones, folks, winter is coming. That’s right. And we want to bring you in from the cold

RYNO: 
and Attilio and Adrienne. I love I love real world examples. And so let’s make an incentive for your real estate visitors that are going to attend or anyone the community that comes to this event. Yeah, if they bring an electric bill that’s over $250 We’re going to give them a $50 gift card.

ATTILIO: 
Awesome. Wow. Yeah. Yes, one $50 gift card. I use $49 of it and I’m gonna give you know $50 gift card

ADRIENNE:

gift card to show up with an electric bill that’s over $250

ATTLIO:

I think there’s gonna be a lot of meeting when they walk in with the electric bill get the $50 gift card. What do you think? Ryno, you were saying something else before we wrap it up.

RYNO: 
Yeah, just the qualifiers over $250. There has to be. It has to be a home that was for the owner. Right. So they don’t have to be the homeowner that brings it but it has to have to be representing a home owner for that bill. Yeah, that’s it. Yeah. That’s it.

ATTILIO: 
That’s it. You know, I have a new tagline that I am adopting for myself personally. It’s two sentences. That’s it. Let’s go. That’s it. Let’s go. So you know, like,

ADRIENNE: 
Let’s Go Local Powur. You know, like

ATTILIO: 
Harry Kojima. I’m dating myself, because most people don’t know Harry Kojima. I don’t know. Is he still alive? Harry call us if he’s still alive. We like interview you. But he used to do a show called Let’s go fishing. Every weekend. He did what do you like fishing or Now he’d be like fishing. And then he like, you know, he pulls out all the fish. He put it right on the grill and then it gets the hot peanut oil. Gouda zona, but the show was called Let’s go fishing. So in memory of Harry Kojima from Let’s go fishing, my new thing is, that’s it. Let’s go.

ADRIENNE:

I think we should say let’s go solar.

ATTILIO:

Let’s go solar

RYNO: 
Go Local Powur when you go local, we grow local.

ATTILIO: 
That’s it. And so it’s about time for us to take back our energy costs. Hello, folks. I forgot where I saw boys, geographically the most distant place from any other landmass on the planet. So we are on our own we got to go back to our Hawaiian roots before Costco and jet airplanes. And we got to go green because Hawaiians was green 3000 years ago so we circling back to our roots in Hawaiian or not, it’s about it’s about a mindset not about a blood quantum do I get the blood quantum because I live here in homes I feel very grateful. You know what happens when you ring my doorbell? Adrienne, what does it say? Says T who? Oh, that would be a good one. No, I you know, maybe I should change it. No, you know what, when you ring my doorbell, it goes Hawaiian. But anyway, right. Oh, thank you so much for being on the show locally, local company, giving back to our community and Makaha helping people with get control of their energy go green, go green. Right. Local powur. Go Local Powur. Thank you, Ryno power. Thanks. All right, folks, if you go to our website, it’s Teamlally.com dot com, forward slash go local powur, local powur. And by the way, power is spelled P O W u r because we put in the you back into control of your power.

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