Abercrombie: Big Island to 'Lead the Way'

Hawaii Governor - Neil Abercrombie

By TOM CALLIS
Updated: 12:06 am - June 26, 2012
Tribune-Herald staff writer

The future of the state will depend much on the Big Island, particularly with its development of energy and agriculture, Gov. Neil Abercrombie told business leaders in Hilo on Monday.

During the speech to about 130 Hawaii Island Chamber of Commerce members at the Hilo Yacht club, the governor laid out a confident outlook on the state’s future, and hinted at another speech to come later this week that he said is going to be “very, very positive” about Hawaii’s fiscal position.

Saturday marks the end of his first full fiscal year while in office.

“In a few days time I think you are going to be very well pleased,” said Abercrombie, who didn’t offer any details.

But Abercrombie, who turns 74 today, also assured the businessmen and women that the island will not be on the periphery when it comes to the state’s future.

“The Big Island is going to lead the way … in setting the direction of the state,” he said.

Abercrombie said it has “endless possibilities” in regards to providing energy to the rest of Hawaii, adding that the big issue in Honolulu is how to “deliver it to the rest of the islands.”

He didn’t mention geothermal power, considered a key part of the state’s energy future.

Talk of expansion of geothermal production has recently caused a resurgence in opposition to the power source in Puna, which hosts the state’s only geothermal plant.

The state Legislature this last session developed the regulatory framework for the creation of an underwater power cable that would connect the islands, if a private developer decides to take it on.

The idea is that the cable would allow the islands to share cheap, reliable geothermal power, as well as other renewable sources, and lower the costs of energy production.

Abercrombie received applause when he mentioned his support for adding a fourth state senate seat to the island.

The addition was the result of a 25 percent population growth on the island between 2000 and 2010.

“I supported it because it was the right thing to do,” he said.

Abercrombie also said the island is “right in the center and key of it” when it comes to agriculture.

He noted the cattle industry in particular, adding that the state will come out with an agriculture plan in January.

Abercrombie also spoke of the island’s military presence, saying the state should host more troops serving the Pacific region.

“We have to be ahead of the curve,” he said, noting the transition of troops out of Okinawa, Japan.

“We have the training capacity for 21st century marines and army in Pohakuloa.”

He ended his speech by telling the chamber, “I think we’re on our way to a new day in Hawaii and on the Big Island in particular.”

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

Pohoiki and Kalapana Community Planning Meeting

All residents from Kalapana to Pohoiki are invited to meet July 22, 2-4pm at Uncle Robert’s in Kalapana.
The meeting will introduce a survey to collect the viewpoints of all residents.
Kalapana-Pohoiki Neighborhoods Organization (KAPONO)

Kalapana to Pohoiki Community Input Survey
Presented by the Steering hui of the Kalapana-Pohoiki Neighborhoods Organization (KAPONO).

NOTE: The survey is directed to only those that own or rent along 137 between Kalapana to Pohoiki.

KAPONO Mission Statement: KAPONO is a community-directed organization that welcomes community members from Kalapana to Pohoiki to join together with local government, businesses, organizations, and individuals for the protection and enhancement of the health, heritage and safety of our communities: our homes, our ‘ohana, and our lifestyles.

Goal of Survey – Development of a Long Range Community Plan that gives us a voice in our future

KAPONO first meeting was in July 2011 and now after a year of meetings and hard work, we are organized and excited to present a Community Input Survey. Much of the survey elements are taken from the Puna Community Development Plan** (PCDP), to gain input as to what is important to our community and also guide the priority of implementation.

All responses will be tabulated and presented at a community meeting at the end of September.

Please come and meet July 22, 2-4pm at Uncle Robert’s in Kalapana. — Richard Koob

Source: PUNA NEWS: Big Island Chronicle

HECO's Residential Rates Edge Up in June

HECO's residential rates edge up in June [Honoluu Star-Advertiser]
(Star-Advertiser) 

Rising fuel oil prices pushed residential electricity bills higher on Oahu in June, Hawaiian Electric Co. reported Tuesday.

The rate for residential HECO customers in June is 35.1 cents a kilowatt-hour, up from 34.6 cents a kilowatt-hour in May, according to HECO. The June rate matched the previous rec­ord high set in December.

The June rate translates into a monthly bill of $218.60 for households using 600 kilowatts of electricity a month, up from $215.69 in May.

Hawaii consistently has the highest electricity costs in the nation, largely because of its dependence on expensive fuel oil for power generation.

Low-sulfur fuel oil, HECO's primary source of power generation, cost $144.73 a barrel in June, up from $126.27 the same month a year ago. Prices for the fuel oil began climbing sharply in the Pacific Basin in early 2011 because of high demand from utilities in Japan. The country turned to oil-fired power plants to replace the generating capacity lost when it shut down many of its nuclear reactors after the devastating earthquake and tsunami there in March 2011.

As we have over the past year, Hawaii continues to feel the impact of high prices for low-sulfur fuel oil, the fuel used to power most generators on Oahu, in the Asia-Pacific market, which includes Hawaii," said Peter Rosegg, HECO spokes­man. "More than half the typical bill goes directly to pay fuel costs over which we have no control. It is a painful reminder that we have to get off oil as quickly and as completely as we can," he said.

Elsewhere in the state, Maui Electric Co. customers saw rates rise to 38.8 cents per kilowatt-hour in June from May's 37.9 cents. The typical Maui bill rose by $6.27 to $241.90.

Hawaii island residential rates rose to 42 cents a kilowatt-hour from last month's 41 cents. The typical bill rose by $5.99 to $262.41.

On Kauai the rate fell to 42.8 cents per kilowatt-hour. Last month the rate charged by the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative was 45.1 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Hawaii's average statewide residential electricity rate was 37.05 a kilowatt-hour in March, more than three times the national average of 11.76 cents per kilowatt-hour, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Two Geothermal Bills Move Forward on Big Island

By Leslie Blodgett, GEA
June 13, 2012

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- This week, a pair of geothermal bills proposed by council Chairman Dominic Yagong received the first of two required approvals from the Hawai'i County Council. One bill would affect how the Big Island spends geothermal royalties. The second bill would mandate evacuation plans for current and future facilities. The two bills passed by votes of 5-4 and 8-1, respectively.

The county gets ~$500,000 a year in revenue from Puna Geothermal Venture, the island’s geothermal power plant, which it uses to address community geothermal-related issues, but also to fund capital projects and services in lower Puna (including the Pahoa council office and security at Isaac Hale Beach Park and Pahoa Community Center). The bill (No. 256-12) wouldlimit those funds to issues related to the plant itself, such as air quality monitoring, health studies, and relocations.

The program relocating residents away from PGV began in the 1980s. The county has bought eight properties through the relocation program at up to 130 percent value which it then sells through auction. A resident relocation was approved May 11, with the last approval before that in 2005. Yagong’s legislation prevents any new properties acquired through the program from being auctioned and only allows homeowners within a mile of the plant to be eligible creating, a buffer zone around the plant. PGV Manager Michael Kaleikini said the state Department of Health does not consider the plant a health hazard, he was quoted during testimony.

This article was originally published in Geothermal Energy Weekly and was republished with permission.

The State of Renewable Energy Industries

Like a proud college graduate, Iowa’s youthful renewable energy industry has set out into the real world just in time to learn how tough the energy business can be.

Ethanol

Ethanol voluntarily gave up its 45-cent-per-gallon tax credit at the end of 2011. Since then, the industry has flipped from solid profitability to red ink. The price of ethanol has plunged by 30 percent in the last six months.

Even the 50-cent-per-gallon drop in gasoline prices since March contains a hint of bad news for ethanol, since the lower price in part reflects a 6 percent drop in gasoline demand since 2007. Less gasoline sold means less ethanol blended.

Biodiesel

Biodiesel, once thought to be the salvation of Iowa’s soybean growers, struggled through a difficult 2010, when most of Iowa’s 13 plants closed after biodiesel lost its $1-per-gallon tax credit.

The credit was restored last year, and biodiesel seemingly recovered, but the credit expires at the end of this year. Biodiesel interests are pleading with Congress, so far without success, to restore the credit.

A measure of the financial markets’ doubts about biodiesel lies in the stock performance of Renewable Energy Group of Ames, which owns or operates biodiesel plants in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Kansas, Texas and Louisiana. REG went public at $10 per share in the first week of January, but the stock has settled below $6.50 per share this month.

Wind

Wind energy faces big head winds: In the marketplace, cheap natural gas is tempting utilities to turn to gas rather than wind as they scramble to replace coal-burning generators to meet clean air standards.

The price of natural gas, which unlike crude oil is purely a domestic market not shaken by world geopolitical forces, has fallen from $10 per thousand cubic feet in 2009 to a 10-year low barely above $2 per thousand cubic feet this month.

“Natural gas priced anywhere below $4 per thousand cubic feet makes wind uncompetitive,” said John Bear, chief executive officer of Midwest Independent System Operators, which runs the electricity grid stretching from Ohio through Iowa to Manitoba.

The natural gas bounty has emboldened opponents of the renewal of the 2.2-cent-per-kilowatt-hour production tax credit for wind projects.

Warren Buffett-backed MidAmerican Energy is completing a multibillion-dollar wind investment in Iowa. Wind interests warn that future projects not blessed with Buffett’s bountiful checkbook will have difficulty finding financing without the tax credit. That will endanger the jobs of more than 4,000 workers and support personnel at Iowa’s wind manufacturing plants.

Natural gas enjoys two distinct advantages over wind. It already has a pipeline system in place, and it can be stored. Wind is famously intermittent, and its power can’t be stored in tanks or underground caverns.

“Natural gas has become a very tough competitor for wind,” concedes Denise Bode, president of the American Wind Energy Association.

Crude Oil

Petroleum, which seemed so 20th-century old-school back in the heady days when Congress passed the Renewable Fuel Standard in 2007, has staged a comeback that threatens renewable energy sources just as they seemed ready to emerge as full-fledged players.

For the first time since the early 1970s, U.S. crude oil production is increasing thanks largely to the new Bakken Field in North Dakota and the reopening of old fields in the U.S. Southwest.

That new oil, plus more oil coming from Alberta in Canada, has reduced U.S. dependence on Middle Eastern oil and enabled oil interests to argue that U.S. energy security no longer depends on home-brew biofuels as it appeared a half-decade ago.

Rick Brehm of Lincolnway Energy hears the excited chatter over the surge in domestic oil coming from the Bakken Field. But he asks, “Has all that new oil from North Dakota lowered the price of gasoline very much?”

World's Top 10 Generators of Clean Energy

With Rio 20+, the latest United Nations organized Earth Summit, less than a week away, the Natural Resources Defense Council has released a scorecard ranking the G20 nations and their commitment to clean energy development.

It comes as no surprise that G20 countries lead the world in renewable energy investment.  Since 2004, investment in clean energy from G20 countries has grown by nearly 600%, while electricity produced from solar, wind, geothermal, tidal, and wave power has tripled. 

Nevertheless, the NRDC says an even greater commitment to clean energy is required, given that clean energy currently only accounts for 2.6% of the G20's electricity production.  This number is expected to increase to 6% by 2020 -- which is not nearly enough to meet the demands of climate scientists.  The NRDC recommends G20 nations seize the opportunity of Rio 20+ to enhance their commitment to clean energy.

Here is a list of the G20's top 10 producers of clean energy in 2011 -- in terms of total percentage of renewable energy in the nation's electricity generation mix.

1.    Germany -- 10.7%

2.    European Union (as a whole) -- 6.7%

3.    Italy -- 6.2%

4.    Indonesia -- 5.7%

5.    United Kingdom -- 4.2%

6.    France -- 2.8%

7.    United States -- 2.7%

8.    Mexico -- 2.6%

9.    India -- 2.4%

10.  Australia -- 2.0%

By Nathanael Barker - June 15, 2012

Energy Boom

Big Island Biodiesel Grand Opening July 2

Posted on June 13, 2012 - Big Island Now Staff

A grand opening will be held July 2 for the Big Island Biodiesel plant.

The ceremony at the facility on Mikahala Street in the Shipman Business Park in Kea‘au is scheduled from 9 a.m. to noon.

Company officials said the ceremony will be followed by an “old-fashioned American Independence Day barbeque.”

The plant has a capacity of 16,000 gallons of biodiesel a day.

Kelly King, vice president for parent company Pacific Biodiesel Technologies, said the plant will employ about 20 people when running at full capacity.

The company held a job fair at the site in March that drew 150 applicants.

About 85 people have been employed in the construction of the $13 million plant, company officials said.

According to King, a “wet-testing” of the plant using water will occur within a week of the opening. Production of biodiesel from used cooking oil will begin a few weeks later.

King said the production will begin gradually as the company secures additional sources of cooking oil and other feedstock, including oil from a jatropha farm in the Keaau area.

Because of the lack of feedstock it will take at least two or three years before the plant could be operating at its full capacity of 5.5 million gallons a day, she said.

“We don’t have that much grease in the state of Hawaii right now,” King said.

The plant is considering shipping in used cooking oil from out of state but that will be dependent on pricing, she said.

Cheap Natural Gas Won’t Kill Renewable Energy Growth (3 Reasons Why) (via Clean Technica)

I’ll be the first to admit that cheap natural gas prices are one of the biggest short-term threats to deployment of renewable energy in the U.S. today. With a glut of gas dropping prices to historic lows, the competitiveness of technologies like wind, solar PV, and solar hot water are facing significant…

Relocation Requests Rise

By TOM CALLIS – Hawaii Tribune Herald 06/10/2012

Tribune-Herald staff writer

Hawaii County has spent $646,407 purchasing homes near Puna’s geothermal power plant, but that number could soon be about to rise.

Joaquin Gamiao, planning administrative officer, said the department is processing seven relocation requests that could end up increasing that amount by about 55 percent.

“We’re out about $1 million,” he said, if all are approved.

The requests have all been submitted in the past month, Gamiao said, after the geothermal issue once again took center stage with the County Council.

The money comes from the county’s geothermal royalty fund, which now has about $3.3 million, according to the Finance Department.

It is funded with the county’s share of royalties from Puna Geothermal Venture. The amount the county receives varies based on production levels, but has hovered recently around $500,000 a year, Gamiao said.

To date, the county has approved five relocations with the latest acquired April 5, according to records provided by the Planning Department.

County staff previously said eight homes were acquired, but some of those were duplicates or had their applications withdrawn.

The homes cost between $60,770 and $237,380 to acquire.

The average property has cost the county $129,281 to purchase.

All were purchased at 130 percent of their value, Gamiao said, as allowed by county policy. They were also located within a mile from the plant, Gamiao said.

The county has auctioned four of those properties to date, for a total amount of $216,100.

The county would be prohibited from auctioning properties acquired through the relocation program under a bill being considered by the County Council.

Gamiao said that would not impact the purchase of the seven properties under consideration. The Planning Department is not delaying processing the requests until the bill has its final vote, likely June 19.

“We’re doing what we need to do know,” he said.

County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong introduced the bill with the intent of creating a one-mile buffer zone.

The fund was established in 1998. Previously, the county’s royalty funds were accruing interest but not being used, Gamiao said.

In 2008, the County Council amended the policy to allow the funds to be used on capital projects and other services for Lower Puna.

Yagong’s bill would also amend the fund to only allow the monies to be spent on relocations as well as air quality and health studies near the plant and provide other means for ensuring safety, such as air monitors for residents.

Yagong said he thinks the fund is receiving enough revenue to cover at least some of those items if relocation requests continue.

“The fact of the matter is we have money that is available and of course we should use the money to do what we can to help the people there,” he said. “That fund will continue to grow.”

Some Puna residents have voiced concern over ending funding for services for the district.

The royalty fund currently covers the Pahoa council office as well as security for at Isaac Hale Beach Park and Pahoa Community Center.

Yagong said he is working on a third geothermal bill that would allow another geothermal fund to cover such expenses.

The second fund, known as the geothermal asset fund, was established in 1989 to reimburse nearby residents adversely affected by the plant.

It has $2.1 million, according to the Finance Department.

Gamioa said it is funded with a $50,000 annual contribution from PGV. There’s no record of it ever being used, he said.

Yagong said the bill, which will likely be introduced July 2, would also create a commission to recommend what projects should be funded.

The commission would consist of five Puna residents appointed by the mayor and County Council.

“We’re putting the asset fund into the hands of the community,” he said.

Yagong said the bill would limit expenditures from the fund to $350,000 a year.

Email Tom Callis at tcallis@hawaiitribune-herald.com.

Hawaiian Electric Industries Deregulation Issues

Presentation to educate the people of Hawaii and others about the 100 year old utility monopoly that has a stranglehold on Hawaii's energy future, operates with full impunity or carte blanch, and rules this state like an outlaw gang in an old west town of the 1880's.

Council to Mull Geothermal Buffer Zone

June 5, 2012

By Erin Miller

West Hawaii Today

emiller@westhawaiitoday.com

The full impact of a bill to create a buffer zone around Puna Geothermal Venture’s plant remains to be seen, county officials said Monday.

Bill 256, proposed by Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, goes before the full council Wednesday in Hilo for first reading. Yagong said the bill is the first step in dealing with the potential health ramifications of living so close to the geothermal energy production plant, although it could also have impacts, in the future, on people living in other parts of the East Rift Zone.

“The real key is, we need to take care of the people around the plant first,” Yagong said, adding that whether the buffer zone should extend farther into the rift zone is a good question. “We can go and expand it even farther from there (the proposed one-mile buffer).”

One thing the county cannot do, he added, is force people to leave their homes, even in a buffer zone.

Yagong’s proposal would move responsibility for the geothermal royalty funded Geothermal Relocation and Community Benefits program, which would be renamed the Geothermal Relocation and Public Safety Program, from the Planning Department to Civil Defense. Bill 256 would also allow spending relocation money for health studies, Yagong said.

Yagong said it would be up to Civil Defense to decide whether to conduct health impact studies before relocating residents. Civil Defense Director Ben Fuata was out of the office Monday. Mayor Billy Kenoi did not immediately respond to a message left Monday afternoon.

Planning Director Bobby Jean Leithead Todd said Yagong’s bill is “superfluous,” because the county already has the authority to spend the royalty money to relocate residents.

Homeowner relocation requests have increased significantly — from two between 2005 and 2011, to seven in the last few months — after the County Council began debating the bill, she added.

The existing program does give priority to people who have owned the house since before 1991, she said, but anyone living within that radius may apply for the program.

The department continues to issue permits, she said, because not doing so might be construed as the county taking an owner’s property.

Leithead Todd said one change to the existing relocation program she’d like to see in place is the ability for the county to purchase vacant land adjacent to the plant. Doing so would create a better buffer and would be cheaper than just buying homes.

“If I’ve got to buy the house at 130 percent of real property appraisal, that’s a lot more money,” Leithead Todd said.

Officials with Puna Geothermal Ventures’ owner, Ormat Technologies, expressed concerns about the bill Monday, through Policy and Business Development Director Paul Thomsen. Thomsen provided West Hawaii Today with a letter, being provided to community members, explaining the technology used within the plant, including the reinjection of the brine heated to create the steam that powers the turbines.

“PGV must operate under stringent air emission, water quality and noise standards set forth by the Hawaii Department of Health and Environmental Protection Agency,” Thomsen wrote. “In doing so, PGV continually monitors (hydrogen sulfide) through 35 point-source detectors placed throughout the power plant. PGV also maintains three monitoring stations that are located on the perimeter of the facility. These stations monitor meteorological and noise data, which can be viewed on the company website and is provided in a formal report given to the (Health Department) on a monthly basis, or as requested. For over 20 years, PGV has complied with state-mandated emissions standards.”

PGV also submitted a letter to Agriculture, Water and Sustainability Committee Chairman J Yoshimoto, requesting time to discuss the plant’s safety protocols and respond to the community’s concerns.

Thomsen said he sees bigger issues facing Puna residents than PGV, particularly naturally occurring pollution of water as it flows from Mauna Loa through the East Rift Zone, picking up chemicals from magma along the way.

“So the fresh water aquifer between the East Rift Zone and the ocean, from Volcano to Kapoho does not meet EPA drinking water standards,” Thomsen said. “This is a natural process that has been going on for millennia and is the source of the warm ponds along the coast from Kapoho to Kalapana. … Natural emissions from the rift in the Puna District are much greater than any potential emissions from PGV.”

He noted a 1998 Department of Health study that found no adverse health impacts from living near the plant.

The council on Wednesday also takes on the first reading of another Yagong measure, this one to ban aerial game hunts in Hawaii County. Bill 261 “declares that the acts of eradication by aerial shooting on this island shall no longer be practiced, and ensures that other methods of animal population control are utilized.”

Mainland magazine Outdoor Life ran an article online last week urging hunters to contact Yagong and tell him they opposed aerial hunting.

Source: West Hawaii Today

Harry Kim to File for Mayor

By Dave Smith - June 4, 2012
Source: Big Island Now


Former two-term mayor Harry Kim today took out nomination papers to run for the chief executive position on the Big Island.

Kim told Big Island Now this afternoon that he will definitely file to run for mayor tomorrow, which is the election deadline for the Aug. 11 primary election.

Kim’s candidacy adds a significant twist to the mayor’s race where he will become the 10th candidate, according to Friday’s report from the state elections office.

Those with the highest profiles, incumbent Mayor Billy Kenoi and County Council Chairman Dominic Yagong, could not be immediately reached for comment.

Kim, 72, served as mayor from 2000-2008 after a 24-year stint as director of the county’s Civil Defense Agency. He was prevented by term limits from running for re-election immediately after that.

Kim knows his chief opponents well.

Yagong ran against him for mayor in the 2004 nonpartisan primary where he received 26% of the vote to Kim’s 62%. Kim has known Kenoi for many years and coached him as a player on the Waiakea High School football team. Kenoi also served as an executive assistant in the last six years of Kim’s administration.

Kim said he didn’t have qualms with either candidate who he said have a “different style of management” from him. Kim had endorsed Kenoi’s bid for mayor in 2008.

Kim said today that his return to politics was largely driven by actions that occurred during the past session at the state Legislature dealing with geothermal development.

He said he was disheartened by the easing of restrictions for those activities including the removal of the requirement for subzones for geothermal development.

But what prompted him into direct action, Kim said, was a request from DLNR Director William Aila Jr. to the state Environmental Council. Aila had asked the panel to exempt exploratory geothermal drilling from the state law that mandates the preparation of an environmental assessment or the more rigorous environmental impact statement.

Kim said he was dumbfounded when a committee of the council voted almost unanimously to recommend approval of Aila’s request.

“I couldn’t believe (the committee) did this,” Kim said. “I said, nah, they wouldn’t do that.”

After being urged to intervene by Gary Hooser, head of the state Office of Environmental Qualify Control, Kim spent four days researching the matter and preparing testimony.

After Kim appeared in person before the full Environmental Council in Honolulu, its members reversed the committee’s recommendation and voted to deny the change Aila had requested.

After that, “I really started thinking about geothermal, safety and health in government,” he said. “How could they do this?”

Kim said he also wondered how, if the exemption stood, government could justify requiring environmental studies for other types of projects.

Kim said his jaw dropped when he heard Aila say drilling for geothermal is comparable to drilling for water.

“I realize that some people truly think that geothermal is harmless,” he said. “I would think people in authority should do some research.”

Kim said he decided to re-enter politics to make sure geothermal and other development “is done right.”

“I realized that it’s not just about geothermal, it’s about faith in government,” he said.

Kim said another subject he is concerned about is solid waste. He said he has never been a proponent of landfills anywhere in Hawaii, and believes the solution is a plant like Oahu’s H-Power where garbage is burned to generate electricity.

He acknowledged that the waste-to-energy facility considered during his second term carried a steep price tag of $125 million, but feels that it’s the government’s duty to find a way to do it affordably.

He said he was also opposed to the County Charter amendment that set aside 2% of county revenues to purchase land to be preserved as open space, partly because it didn’t include funding for maintenance of those lands.

“That’s not a good way to spend public money,” he said, adding that such funding should be found elsewhere.

In the area of public funding, Kim will likely be subjected to questions about his administration’s practice of increasing the size of government during flush times, when soaring property values inflated county coffers.

During Kim’s eight years in office, the county’s operating budget more than doubled to more than $400 million. That included a tax increase of nearly 25% for homeowners sought by Kim and approved by the council for the 2002-03 fiscal year.

Kim said today he will run a campaign similar to his other two, in which he describes himself as an “applicant” for the mayor’s job.

While he has relatively little time for fundraising, that also includes continuing his policy of not taking any campaign donations greater than $10. Kim said no amount of advertising he could purchase would overshadow public perception of his years of public service.

“I worked for the people here for more than 40 years, and by now they should know me and my methods,” he said.

Kim acknowledged that his health could be an issue in the campaign, as he suffered two heart attacks in his final year in office.

“My health at this point is good,” he said, while acknowledging that he is currently undergoing additional cardiac testing.

He also admitted that because of the health issues his family did not want him to run, but supports his decision to do so.

Gas Companies Natural Gas Plan Is Taking Shape

June 4, 2012 - Source: Power Engineering

The Gas Co. is moving ahead with plans to bring U.S.-produced natural gas to Hawaii, announcing Thursday it has chosen an engineering firm to help with the proj­ect, which would give local residents and businesses access to a new and potentially cheaper energy alternative.

In addition to hiring CH2M HILL, a Denver-based engineering and consulting firm, The Gas Co. officials also said they have begun seeking regulatory approval to bring in the first shipment of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, by the end of this year.

Natural gas is the second-largest source of electricity generation in the U.S. after coal, and hundreds of new natural gas-fired power plants are being planned to take advantage of low natural gas prices. Hawaii is the only state with no power plants fueled by natural gas.

The decline in natural gas prices in recent years is a major reason wholesale electricity prices nationwide have fallen by more than 50 percent since 2008, according to a recent research report by Standard & Poors Financial Services LLC. Meanwhile, high oil costs have been cited by Hawaii utilities as the main reason for soaring electric rates. The residential rate for electricity in Hawaii averaged a rec­ord 34.7 cents a kilowatt-hour in 2011 compared with the national average of 11.8 cents a kilowatt-hour.

The Gas Co. initially plans to ship the LNG to Hawaii in small amounts, using refrigerated tanks inside 40-foot shipping containers, said Jeff Kissel, president and chief executive officer. The company is aiming to ship larger quantities of the fuel to Hawaii within five years using custom-built LNG tankers sized to fit Hawaii's ports, he said

The potential for savings with natural gas as an energy source is significant when compared with generation from crude oil products, according to Kissel.

"Natural gas is a clean and abundant alternative to the oil-based fuels now supplying more than 90 percent of Hawaii's energy requirements," Kissel said. "It can be liquefied and transported to Hawaii at a cost which The Gas Co. believes will be well below the cost of oil. Moreover, the price of natural gas is expected to remain below the cost of oil for many years to come," he said.

The Gas Co. serves 68,000 customers statewide with synthetic natural gas and propane, which are made locally from derivatives of crude oil. The company's commercial customers include restaurants, hotels, manufacturers and laundry companies that use gas mainly for heat energy. These current natural gas customers would be the first to make use of The Gas Co.'s imported natural gas.

Kissel said The Gas Co. would be open to supplying natural gas to Hawaii's two electric utilities - Hawaiian Electric Co. and Kauai Island Utility Cooperative - for power generation. Both utilities use petroleum-based fuel for most of their electricity production. Most oil-fired power generators could be converted to use LNG.

"As a utility we're making the material available to everybody, including KIUC, HECO and independent power producers," Kissel said.

Any natural gas brought to Hawaii would have to be liquefied, which is done to reduce its volume and make it easier to transport over long distances by ship. LNG takes up about one-six hundredth the volume of natural gas in its gaseous state. The equipment needed to unload the LNG and "regasify" it once it gets to Hawaii would add to its final cost.

The Gas Co., a subsidiary of Macquarie Infrastructure, is committed to making a "major investment in natural gas infrastructure to bring this low-cost fuel to Hawaii as soon as regulatory and environmental considerations will permit," according to a company press release.

Any investments made by The Gas Co., including a tanker terminal, pipelines and storage facilities, would have to be approved by the state Public Utilities Commission, Kissel said. The Gas Co. would also have to obtain regulatory approval from other state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Department of Transportation.

Lt. Gov. Brian Schatz said last month he supports the use of natural gas.

"Liquefied natural gas is a real option for us, and we're looking at it very seriously," Schatz said. "It burns a lot cheaper and cleaner than coal or oil, so it's attractive on a number of levels."

Natural gas futures have risen over the past month but remain relatively low by historical standards. Natural gas futures, which are priced in British thermal units, rose 0.4 cent to settle at $2.42 per million BTU Thursday. The futures price is up 27 percent since reaching a 10-year low of $1.90 on April 19.

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