PGV slates virtual community meeting

Puna Geothermal Venture will host a virtual community meeting at 4 p.m. Wednesday, April 14.

Along with representatives of Hawaiian Electric Company and Hawaii County, PGV will give updates and answer questions from the public.

PGV, a subsidiary of Ormat Technologies, restarted in early November — more than two years after the 2018 eruption of Kilauea volcano forced it to stop producing electricity — and is ramping up to full production capacity.

The power plant currently is producing approximately 20 megawatts of power and is targeting a return to full capacity — 38 megawatts — later this year.

Prior to the eruption, PGV provided 31% of all energy delivered to the Hawaiian Electric grid. Geothermal energy is a keystone for the state to meet its 100% clean energy goal by 2045.

The public can participate in the April 14 meeting by clicking a link on punageothermalproject.com. The link will become live at the start of the meeting.

Questions can be submitted in advance at punageothermalproject.com/public-meetings/.

Written highlights and video recordings of previous virtual community meetings also are available at that link.

In addition to virtual meetings, residents who have questions or concerns can call a toll-free line at 808-369-9094, and weekly project updates are posted at punageothermalproject.com.

PGV also plans to conduct meetings in July and October, details for which will be announced later.