Honua Ola’s fate
Honua Ola objects to the Public Utilities Commission’s decision not to waive competitive bidding. But the PUC is unlikely to change course.
And other hurdles remain: The PUC must consider motions regarding Honua Ola withholding information, and decide if Honua Ola’s rates and greenhouse gas emissions benefit the public.
Honua Ola still needs approval for its injection wells, plus a time-consuming traffic study for huge logging trucks stopping and turning on a high-speed road.
Honua Ola’s power will cost double or triple the rates from other new Hawaii Island plants. That means higher costs across the board for all goods and services.
Modern, improved battery storage means solar and wind power can be stored for use any time. If it’s raining, think hydropower. And don’t think huge centralized plants — micro-grids and rooftop solar provide multiple energy sources. Then, an eruption or hurricane is unlikely to leave everyone in the dark, or require restarting a huge plant.
It’s not energy efficient to chop down trees and truck them for miles and pump up 20 million gallons of groundwater a day for cooling, then discard the heated water into injection wells. That water will eventually seep into the ocean, carrying small amounts of chemicals, at a temperature warmer than normal for the ocean. This could affect coral, limu and endangered sea turtles.
The wells were drilled near cliffsides, which in Hamakua are notoriously unstable. And don’t forget how Honua Ola ran wastewater into the ocean, incurring a $25,000 fine.
I feel for the Honua Ola employees. They should pursue jobs with a future — in solar and wind. And Honua Ola should take responsibility for not getting all its ducks in a row before raising employees’ hopes and sinking millions into an environmentally unfriendly plant that might never open.
Martha “Cory” Harden
Hilo
No help with pigs
Why I am voting Libertarian? The government made me do it.
For years now, I and others have tried to have the pigs removed from upper Hilo.
They breed at the Komohana and Mohouli area and are fed by numerous people. I have written the Department of Land and Natural Resources, the Department of Health, the county and Hawaii Community College, but to no avail.
Hawaii Community College is the owner of the land, and it declined to put up a sign asking others to stop the pig-feeding.
Thus, if the government won’t work for me, I don’t need the government.
William J. King
Hilo