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Wind Power News: lanai
Remembering Big Wind’s Big Fail On Lanai
Kirstin Downey’s recent article (“The Struggle Over Towering Wind Farms Is At The Center Of A Honolulu City Council Debate,” Sept. 21) rightly highlights the Kahuku community’s critical role in helping to inform public opinion regarding the negative community impacts of industrial wind power plants. She writes: “When they first arrived in Hawaii about a decade ago, the turbines were initially welcomed but North Shore residents were shocked by their huge size and disturbed to learn they posed deadly hazards . . . Complete story »
Molokai, Lanai renewable energy bids solicited
Molokai will have 78 percent of its power supplied by renewable sources and Lanai 55 to 61 percent by 2023 under a procurement process started by Maui Electric Co. The Public Utilities Commission on Monday approved the utility’s plan to issue a request for proposals for wind and solar power paired with energy storage for the two islands. The projects would come online in 2023. Estimated targets being sought for Molokai are the equivalent of about 4 megawatts of solar . . . Complete story »
Call for renewable energy projects draws over 75 proposals
Hawaiian Electric Cos. has received more than 75 proposals for renewable energy projects to help accelerate the state’s transition from fossil fuels to complete renewable energy generation by 2045, the utility announced Thursday. The proposals are for projects on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island and will help replace fossil fuel facilities like the Kahului Power Plant, which is set to retire by the end of 2024, and the coal-fired AES Hawaii plant in Campbell Industrial Park on Oahu, which is . . . Complete story »
Hawaii governor’s race: Clear differences on energy policy
U.S. Rep. Colleen Hanabusa’s family gas station in Waianae plays a featured role in the gubernatorial candidate’s life story. Her campaign bio leads off talking about the filling station run by her parents, Isao and June. And a sepia-toned photo of the station is prominently displayed on the campaign website, above a picture of Hanabusa as a young legislator at the Hawaii State Capitol. But more than nostalgia links Hanabusa to the fossil fuel industry. Hanabusa served as a director . . . Complete story »
Big Wind has — finally — blown over
On Aug. 15, the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission officially pulled the plug on David Murdock’s environmentally disastrous plans for Big Wind on Lanai. Citing the Legislature’s recent repeal of the 2012 undersea cable bill (Act 205), and HECO’s statement that it no longer needed wind from Lanai to reach its renewable energy targets, the PUC closed the door on the Murdock/Lingle/Abercrombie plan to sacrifice one-quarter of Lanai to enrich a mainland real estate developer’s bottom line. The PUC’s announcement brought . . . Complete story »
Wind power raises Maui electric bills
Higher costs for wind power in April increased the bills for electric utility customers on Maui. Typical Maui Electric Co. customers saw a $7.03 increase in April from March, as the average bill for a Maui household using 500 kilowatt-hours is $155.35, or 29.1 cents a kilowatt-hour. In March, the bill was $148.32, or 27.7 cents a kilowatt-hour. Hawaiian Electric Co. spokeswoman Shannon Tangonan said Wednesday the Maui utility’s purchase of power from wind facilities, instead of the utility-owned fossil . . . Complete story »
Hawaiian Electric looking for land for renewable energy projects
HILO – Hawaiian Electric Companies announced a search for potential land to house renewable-energy production. The request for information comes from Hawaiian Electric, Maui electric and the Hawaii Electric Light Co. HELCO considers the renewable energy effort part of the overall goal “to achieve 100 percent renewable energy.” Hawaiian Electric Spokesman Darren Pai said when the goal of potential 100 percent renewable energy is looked at “one of the most-important things to consider is land that’s going to be available.” A . . . Complete story »
‘Big Wind’ developer nixes interest in renewable projects in Hawaii
The company formed to develop part of the so-called “Big Wind” project on Molokai is no longer interested in doing projects in Hawaii, Pacific Business News has learned. In 2011, Molokai Renewables LLC, a joint venture between Pattern Energy and Bio-Logical Capital, was interested in developing various renewable energy projects in the state. They included a 200-megawatt wind farm on Molokai in a deal that would have the company lease thousands of acres of land at Molokai Ranch. The project, . . . Complete story »
NextEra to pull out of Hawaii wind farm, undersea cable and power supply improvement projects
According to dockets filed with the Hawaii state Public Utilities Commission on Wednesday, NextEra Energy Inc. (NYSE: NEE) has filed to withdraw from its ongoing projects in Hawaii. These include the Oahu-Maui interisland transmission cable (docket 2013-0169); Castle & Cooke’s proposed Lanai Wind Project (docket 2013-0168); and power supply improvement plans underway with Hawaiian Electric Co., Hawaii Electric Light Co. and Maui Electric Co. All three dockets cite the July 15 PUC order rejecting NextEra’s acquisition of HECO: “Consequently, NEEH . . . Complete story »
‘Small Wind’ projects may be in Lanai, Molokai’s future
Plans for the so-called “Big Wind” projects that originally looked at connecting huge wind energy farms on both the islands of Lanai and Molokai to an undersea cable that would connect to Oahu’s grid may not be on the table anymore, but smaller wind farms are still in the works, a Hawaiian Electric Co. executive confirmed to PBN. Hawaiian Electric, which recently revealed its updated new energy plans that sets the course for the state to reach 100 percent renewable . . . Complete story »
