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.