Tag Archives: Hu Honua

Big Island, Current Affairs, Food Safety Certification, Food Security, Geothermal, Government, Hydroelectric, Hydrogen, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources, Science, Sustainability

Preparing for Climate Change, The Overview

Richard Ha writes:

I was asked to talk this morning at the Hawai‘i State Association of Counties 2014 Annual Conference, which was held in Waikiki. I spoke on the panel called Preparing for Climate Change. Here’s what I said.

***

Aloha everyone. Thanks for inviting me.

Food security has to do with farmers farming. If the farmers make money, the farmers will farm!

The Hawaiian side of our family is Kamahele, from lower Puna. All the Kamaheles are related. The Okinawa side of our family is Higa. The Korean side of our family is the Ha name. It’s about all of us in Hawaii. Not just a few of us!

I write an ag and energy blog Hahaha.hamakuasprings.com. It stands for three generations of us.

What is the difference between climate and weather? Neil DeGrasse Tyson, on Cosmos, describes it like the guy strolling down the beach with his dog. The dog running back and forth is the weather. The guy walking along the beach is climate.

Background: 35 years farming, more than 100 million pounds of fruits and vegetables. We farm 600 fee-simple acres which the family and 70 workers farm. Not having any money, we started out by trading chicken manure for banana keiki and went on to become the largest banana farm in the U.S. We were green farmers early. In 1992, we were first banana farm in the world certified Eco-OK by the Rainforest Alliance. In 2008, we were one of six national finalists for the Patrick Madden SARE award. We were one of the first farms in Hawai‘i to be food-safety certified.

When we needed to find a solution for a disease problem, we took a class in tissue culture and tried to culture the plants in our back bedroom. But there was too much contamination, from cat hair maybe. So we made our own tissue culture lab. We have our own hydroelectric plant, which provides all our electricity. Our trucks and tractors operate with fuel from Hawai‘i biodiesel.

My pop told me that, “Get a thousand reasons why no can.” I’m only looking for the one reason why CAN.

As we stroll along the climate change beach, there are two things that we notice.

The first is energy. Without energy, work stops. Petroleum products are finite and costs will rise. Farmers’ costs will rise and farmers’ customers’ costs will rise. How can we dodge the bullet?

I attended five Peak Oil conferences. The world has been using twice and three times as much oil as we have been finding. So the price is going to keep on going up. It will increase farmers’ costs and will increase the farmers’ customers’ costs. We need to do something that will help all of us, not just a few of us. Something that can help future generations cope.

That something is hydrogen. The geothermal plant can be curtailed at 70 MW per day. That’s throwing away 70 MW of electricity every night. The new eucalyptus chip plant Hu Honua can be curtailed by 10 MW for ten hours per night. The key to hydrogen is electricity cost. On the mainland it is made from natural gas. Here it can be made from running electricity through water. We are throwing away lots of electricity at night. We know that oil and gas prices will be steadily going up in the future. Hydrogen from our renewable resources will become more and more attractive as oil and gas prices rise. At some point we will have an advantage to the rest of the world. And as a bonus, hydrogen combined with nitrogen in the air will produce nitrogen fertilizer.

You may be interested to know the inside scoop about the lawsuit that Big Island farmers brought against the County.

Why? Clarity: Farmers are law-abiding citizens and we play by the rules. We thought that the Feds and the State had jurisdiction. We want clarity about the rules of the game.

Equal treatment: Only Big Island farmers are prohibited from using biotech solutions that all our competitors can use. How is that equal? It’s discriminatory against local farmers.

When the law was first proposed, they wanted to ban all GMOs. We asked what are papaya farmers supposed to do? They said, we can help them get new jobs, to transition. We were speechless. It was as if they were just another commodity. So farmers and ranchers got together and ran a convoy around the County building in protest. Then they said they would give the Rainbow papaya farmers a break. I was there when the papaya farmers had a vote to accept the grandfather clause for Rainbow papayas. There were a lot of young, second- and third-generation farmers there in the room.

In the end, the papaya farmers said, We are not going to abandon our friends who supported us when we needed help. That is not who we are. Then they voted unanimously to reject the offer. I was there and being a Vietnam vet, where the unspoken rule was we all come back or no one comes back, I could not have been prouder of the papaya farmers. That explains why the Big Island farmers are tight. Old-fashioned values. The rubbah slippah folks absolutely get all of this.

So who are these farmers? I am one. I don’t grow GMOs. It isn’t about me. I’ll make 70 this year and, like almost all the farmers, have never sued anyone. But there comes a time when you have to stand up for what is right.

The group we formed, Hawaii Farmers and Ranchers United, grows more than 90 percent of the farm value on the Big Island.

This is about food security. The GMO portion of food security is small. This is not about large corporations. It is about local farmers. It is not about organics; we need everybody. But organics only supply 4 percent of the national food supply and maybe 1 percent of Hawai‘i’s. Our organic farmers are not threatened by modern farming. Hawaii organic farmers are threatened by mainland, industrial-scale organic farms. That is why there are hardly any locally grown organics in the retail stores. It’s about cost of production. Also, on the mainland winter kills off the bad bugs and weeds and the organic farmers can outrun the bugs through the early part of summer. Hawai‘i farmers don’t have winter to help us.

Most importantly, this is about pro-science and anti-science. That is why farmers are stepping up. We know that science is self-correcting. It gives us a solid frame of reference. You don’t end up fooling yourself. In all of Hawai‘i’s history, now is no time to be fooling ourselves.

My pop told me that there were a thousand reasons why No Can. He said, look for the one reason why Can! He said to look for two solutions to every problem and one more, just in case.

He would pound the dinner table and dishes would bounce in the air and he would point in the air and say, “Not no can. CAN!”

We can have a better world for future generations. It’s all common sense and attitude.

***

Geothermal, Lowering Electric Rates, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources

‘Behind the Plug & Beyond the Barrel’

Richard Ha writes:

I spoke on behalf of the Big Island Community Coalition (BICC) at the Hawai‘i Island Renewable Energy Solutions Summit 2014 on April 30th, which was titled “Behind the Plug and Beyond the Barrel," and here's what I said: 

BICC mission

Good morning. Thanks for the introduction. I will use just this one slide, and you can read our mission statement on it, which is to lower the cost of electricity. “To make Big Island electricity rates the lowest in the state by emphasizing the use of local resources.”

I would like to spend some time talking about who makes up the BICC.

Dave DeLuz, Jr. – President of Big Island Toyota.

John Dill – Contractors Association, and Chair of the Ethics Commission

Rockne Freitas – Former Chancellor Hawai‘i Community College

Michelle Galimba – Rancher, Board of Agriculture

Richard Ha – Farmer

Wallace Ishibashi – Royal Order of Kamehameha, DHHL Commissioner

Kuulei Kealoha Cooper- Trustee, Jimmy Kealoha and Miulan Kealoha Trust.

Noe Kalipi – Former staffer for Sen Akaka, helped write the Akaka Bill, energy consultant

Kai'u Kimura- Executive Director of ‘Imiloa.

Bobby Lindsey – OHA Trustee

Monty Richards – Kahua Ranch

Marcia Sakai – Vice Chancellor for Administrative Affairs, former Dean of UH Hilo, College of Business

Bill Walter- President of Shipman, Ltd., which is the largest landowner in Puna.

These folks are all operating in their private capacities. I'm chair of the BICC, and the only person from Hawai‘i to have attended five Peak Oil conferences. I've visited Iceland and the Philippines with Mayor Kenoi's exploratory group.

As you can imagine, the BICC has strong support all across political parties and socioeconomic strata. People get it in five minutes.

Oil and gas are finite resources, and prices will rise.  One note about natural gas: the decline rate of the average gas well is very high. Ninety percent of the production comes out in five years. This is worrisome.

Hawai‘i Island relies on oil for sixty percent of its electricity generation; the U.S. mainland only two percent.

As the price of oil rises, our food manufacturers and producers become less competitive, as we all know. Food security involves farmers farming. And if the farmers make money, the farmers will farm.

What can we do?  By driving the cost of electricity down, the Big Island can have a competitive edge to the rest of the world.

Since rising electricity rates act like a giant regressive tax, lowering electricity rates would do just the opposite. And since two-thirds of the economy is made up of consumer spending, this would be like "trickle up" economics. If the rubbah slippah folks had extra money, they would spend and everyone would benefit.

 The lowest-hanging fruit:

1. Geothermal. Allows us to dodge the finite resource bullet. It is the lowest-cost base power. The Big Island will be over the hot spot for 500,000 to a million years.

2. We throw away many lots of MW of electricity every night. Hu Honua will probably throw away 10 MW for ten hours every night. PGV, maybe 7 MW for ten hours.

3. Wind, too.

Maybe HELCO will allow us to move the excess electricity free. They don't make any money on the throwaway power now, anyway. What if we used it for something that won't compete with them? Then people could bid for the excess, throwaway power for hydrogen fueling stations, to make ammonia fertilizer, and to attract data centers. Hawaii could become the renewable energy capital of the world. People would love to come here and look at that. As airline ticket costs rise, the walk around cost in Hawai‘i would not.

The BICC call for lowering electricity costs could leave future generations a better Hawai‘i.  And that is what we all want.

Geothermal, Government, Lowering Electric Rates, Mauna Kea, Peak Oil

Geothermal Talk at the Democratic Party Convention

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Richard Ha writes:

On Saturday, I was on a geothermal panel at the Hawai‘i Island Democratic Party Convention, which was held at the Volcano Art Center. Brian Schatz at Hawai‘i County Democratic Party Senator Brian Schatz speaking

Also on the panel were State Senator Russell Ruderman and former Big Island Mayor Harry Kim.

It went very well and I’m very optimistic. I think most of us just want to do the best for all of us.

I made it a point to tell the audience that I went to O‘ahu on behalf of the Big Island Community Coalition and testified in favor of four
geothermal bills. What the four bills had in common is that they all contained provisions for “home rule.” I told the audience: This was so you could have a say in the geothermal issue.

My main point was that we are competing with the world for oil. And we need to seek a competitive advantage for the Big Island, and this has to do with cost.

We all know that the price of oil price rise; it’s only a matter of when, and how high. So if we can find a lowest cost solution, this will protect us from a rising oil price. It does not matter what the alternative is, so long as it gives us a competitive advantage.

Right now, it’s geothermal that has the potential for giving us that competitive advantage, assuming we don’t drive up its cost so high that we lose that advantage. Whether or not we achieve its potential is up to our leaders and to the Puna community.

Here’s what I told the Democratic Party Convention:

We are on a search for “competitive advantage” for the Big Island. Organisms, organizations and civilizations do this – it is called “survival of the fittest.” It isn’t the strongest or the smartest that survive; it’s the ones that can adapt – Charles Darwin

My name is Richard Ha. I am a farmer here on the Big Island. Together with our 70 workers, we farm 600 fee simple acres at Pepe‘ekeo. We have produced multi-millions of pounds of bananas and tomatoes over the past 35 years.

In my search to find competitive advantage for my farm’s future, I’ve now been to five Association for the Study of Peak Oil (ASPO) conferences.

Here is what I took away from these conferences:

  1. Oil price quadrupled in the last 10 years.
  2. The last 11 recessions were associated with a spiking oil price.
  3. Oil is a finite resource.
  4. The world has been using three times the oil it has been finding for many years now.
  5. The days of cheap oil are over.
    1. The cost to produce the marginal barrel of oil – the last barrel, as in shale oil and tar sands – was $92 per barrel in 2011.
  6. The U.S. mainland uses oil for only two percent of its electrical generation. Hawai‘i uses oil for more than 70 percent of its electrical generation.
    1. Anything manufactured on the mainland with cheap oil embedded makes our local producers and manufacturers less competitive. This affects Ag products.
  7. It is not the supply or demand of oil that will cause the
    greatest damage; it is the cost of oil.
  8. How much time do we have? Because it is about oil cost, we have less time than we think.

ELECTRICITY ON THE BIG ISLAND

  1. Uses 180 MW at Peak.
  2. Most of the increase in electricity bills is caused by oil pass through.
  3. Bio mass – as in wood chips – and geothermal have base power potential.
  4. Solar and wind must add storage to become useful as base power.
  5. Storage at utility scale is prohibitively expensive today.

ECONOMY

  1. Big Island electricity rates have been 25 percent higher than O‘ahu’s rates for as long as anyone can remember.
  2. The Big Island has the lowest median family income in the state.
  3. The Pahoa School Complex has, at 89 percent, the highest percent of students participating in the free/reduced lunch program in the state. Ka‘u at 87 percent and Kea‘au at 86 percent are close behind.

Education is the best predictor of family income. Yet the Big Island’s high electricity cost takes away from its education budget.

Rising electricity rates act like a giant regressive tax. The folks who are able to leave the grid for PV do so. The folks left behind pay more for the grid. Many of these folks are the ones already on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder: THE ONES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY IS CONCERNED ABOUT.

Rising electricity rates take away discretionary income. Two-thirds of our economy is made up of consumer spending. Bottom-up economics benefit all, from the rubbah slippah folks to the shiny shoe folks.

GEOTHERMAL

  1. Cost to generate electricity from geothermal is estimated at 10 cents per kilowatt hour. This is less than half the price of electricity generated by oil, which is estimated to be 21 cents per kilowatt hour.
  2. The cost of the feedstock steam will be stable for a long time. The Big Island is estimated to be over the “hot spot” for 500,000 to a million years.
  3. Concentrating geothermal on the East Rift increases risk. Iceland mitigated the risk by keeping some oil-fired plants in operational reserve.
  4. Home Rule. The Big Island Community Coalition, myself as representative, personally voted for four of the bills that contained the Home Rule provision.
  5. Mediation vs. contested case hearing. It is a risk/benefit, cost, competitive advantage question. The lowest cost solution to accomplish the objectives is our target.
  6. How much time do we have? If cost is our primary concern, we have less time than we think.

I asked Dr. Carl Bonham: What happens if the oil price hit $200 per barrel? He replied that it would devastate our tourism industry.

I asked Dr. Bonham: What if we used geothermal as our primary base power? Wouldn’t we have a competitive advantage to the rest of the world as the oil price rose? He said, “YES.”

And, I asked, isn’t it fair to say that our standard of living would rise? He said: “YES.”

By giving the Big Island a competitive advantage in electricity rates, we can take care of all of us; not just a few of us.

WHERE ARE WE TODAY?

We are on a good track.

  1. We have 38MW of geothermal. The 25MW original contract, which is still tied to oil, is being renegotiated right now.
  2. HELCO has signed a 22MW power purchase agreement with Hu Honua. This is proven, stable and affordable technology – firewood, boil water.
  3. HELCO has issued a 50MW request for geothermal proposals.

These 110MWs of stable, affordable electricity base power represent 60 percent of the Big Island’s peak power usage.

O‘ahu has 10 percent of its base power electricity coming from stable affordable sources.

If we all work together, to take care of each other, we can be on track to have a competitive advantageover the rest of the world.

***

Some good resources on this topic:

Geothermal Assessment & Roadmap is a report compiled by the Pacific International Center For High Technology Research (PICHTR) under contract to Hawaii Natural Energy Institute, University of Hawaii in January 2013.

Peak Oil Warning From an IMF Expert: Interview with Michael Kumhof is a modeling done by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) economic team. Although it is not an official IMF document, it was done by the team that does economic analysis and modeling for the IMF.

We are dependent on air transportation, and this video, Charles Schlumberger: Out of Gas: Implications for Transportation, gives a sobering view of what we can expect in the future. Dr. Schlumberger is head of the air transport division of the World Bank.

Education, Lowering Electric Rates, Peak Oil

Let’s Fight Rising Electric Rates, Not Teachers

Richard Ha writes:

Today we find ourselves fighting against our teachers. But it’s rising electricity costs that is putting the pressure on school budgets.

We should be fighting against rising electricity rates, not our teachers.

The main problem with the proposed HECO/Aina Koa Pono (AKP) biofuel project is that its $200/barrel cost would raise Big Islanders’ electricity rates.

It proposes to supply liquid fuel for the Keahole plant, which represents 60 percent of base electrical power on the Big Island. Most of the increase to our Big Island electricity bills would be due to liquid fuel pass through. So AKP’s $200/barrel biofuel cost would have a significant, negative impact on Big Islanders’ electricity bills.

Hawai‘i’s poor already have the highest tax burden in the nation, according to a front page headline in Thursday’s Hawaii Tribune-Herald.

Let’s not increase the burden; let’s lessen it.

We can. Check out the Big Island Community Coalition, which is working toward lowest cost electricity for the Big Island.

Instead of the Aina Koa Pono project, we should support HELCO’s ­22MW Hu Honua biomass/firewood project, as well as the 50MW geothermal project. If we include the present 38MW geothermal project, of which the old 25 MW contract is being renegotiated right now, it will result in 110MWs of stable, affordable electricity. More than 60 percent of our electricity would come from stable, affordable sources.

This is what will protect us from rising world oil prices. And as the price of oil rises, which it will, Big Island electricity rates would stay stable. Our electricity rates would actually become the lowest in the state.

Can you even imagine the changes that will happen when the Big Island has the lowest electricity rates in the state? We have become so accustomed to electricity bills that are 25 percent higher that we have a hard time imagining anything different.

It doesn’t have to be this way.

There will be a paradigm shift when our electricity costs are the lowest in the state. We will be able to protect some of the most defenseless among us, without having to raise the tax rates.

When people have spending money, they spend that money. They
boost economic activity. Farmers can make money and even manufacture food products for the O‘ahu market. This would increase our food security.

Our County government will be able to maintain services without having to raise taxes.

Let’s all support each other as we work toward lowest cost electricity for all Big Islanders. Not, no can. CAN!

Biofuel, Food Security, Geothermal, Lowering Electric Rates, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources

Energy & the Future of the Big Island

Richard Ha writes:

This past Friday I participated on an energy panel at the Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel called “Energy: Facing the Reality of Renewables.” Panel members were Jay Ignacio, President of Hawaii Electric Light company; Mike Kaleikini, who is General
Manager of Puna Geothermal Venture; and myself, as steering committee member of the Big Island Community Coalition.

From the Kona-Kohala Chamber of Commerce: “The 2013 Summit will further explore those initiatives via ‘panels of conversation’ on each topic. Three guests per topic have been invited to participate on panels to discuss their work with the Summit audience, ideas that inspire them and what they see as the future for Hawaii Island. Each panel will have 45 minutes of discussion followed by questions from the audience. We are pleased to have Steve Petranik, Editor of ‘Hawaii Business Magazine’ as our moderator again this year.”

There were five panels: Education, Sustainability, Employment, Energy and Health Care.

West Hawaii Today wrote about it in an article called Prospects of an All-Geothermal Isle Unlikely.

I started out by saying mixed messages are being sent out. Some say that the U.S. has enough oil and gas that we will soon replace Saudi Arabia as a world energy supplier. Using data and scientific methods, the Association for the Study of Peak Oil-USA (ASPO) has come to different conclusions. Its agenda is merely to spread the best information it has on this topic. You can learn more by viewing video at the ASPO-USA.org website.

I described the Big Island Community Coalition’s mission, which is to achieve, for the Big Island, the lowest-cost electricity in the state. Striving for a low cost solution hedges our bets. It is better to be safe than sorry. I told them that those interested in supporting this group can get on the Big Island Community Coalition mailing list.

I related how food and energy are inextricably tied together. Food security has to do with farmers farming. And if farmers make money, the farmers will farm! But while only two percent of the mainland’s electricity comes from oil, more than 70 percent of the electricity in Hawai‘i does. The mainland, of course, is our main supplier of food and our biggest competitor. As oil prices rise, Hawai‘i becomes less and less competitive.

As oil prices rise, and electricity prices rise, and farmers and other businesses become less competitive, local families have less spending money.

The answer is to find the lowest electricity cost solution. For if people have extra money, they will spend it. Two-thirds of our economy is made up of consumer spending.

Provided that the expensive and ill-advised Aina Koa Pono biofuel project does not go forward, we have a bright future ahead of us. In the pipeline is Hu Honua’s 22MW biomass burning project, and
next is 50W of additional geothermal. Add to that 38MW of present geothermal, and, assuming the old geothermal contract is renegotiated, that would amount to 110MW of stable affordable electricity. This would be more than 60 percent of the peak power use on the Big Island. Even if we do not count wind and solar renewables, this would put the Big Island on a trajectory of achieving the lowest cost electricity in the state.

What would happen if our electricity costs were lower than O‘ahu’s? We can’t even imagine it.

  • It would change our economy.
  • It would help our County government preserve services.
  • Fewer of our kids would have to go to the mainland to find jobs.
  • More of our money could be used for education, instead of paying for oil.
  • More people would have money to support local farmers.
  • Single moms would have less pressure than they do now.
  • Folks on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder would not be pushed over the edge.
  • There are lots and lots  of younger folks who want to farm. Maybe they could actually make money so they could farm.

I told the audience that we on the panel were all friends. But there is too much at stake for the BICC to give ground on our goal to make the Big Island’s electricity the cheapest in the state.

During the Q & A, someone asked what we each thought about an undersea cable to connect all the islands. I replied that our primary objective is to bring low cost electricity to the Big Island before we do anything else.

The audience liked that a lot and spontaneously applauded.

Community

Biomass To Electricity: A Fancy Way To Talk About Firewood

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Richard Ha writes:

At last week’s PUC meeting in Hilo regarding the Hu Honua Bioenergy project slated for Pepe‘ekeo, few members of the public objected to the project.

The hearing was required because HELCO is proposing to relocate a switching station. The proposed site is on a 13-acre parcel that June and I own; they want to buy half of the property. We notified the community associations that this was taking place several months ago, and, as a consequence, I do not plan on submitting personal testimony to the PUC.

At the PUC meeting, the Kamehameha Schools (KS) representative talked about forest products as an industry. What is more practical and proven than using firewood to boil water? This is what we need; it’s practical.

This Big Island Video News video covers the meeting, and here are some things to especially note:

At the 3:00 minute mark, the KS representative expresses how this project could be the catalyst around which a forest industry could grow. Native trees, especially, take a longer time, and so a combination of native and non-native trees could make the forest industry viable.

As a scalable feedstock, trees work on the Hamakua Coast. They’ve been growing for 20 years. KS is crucial to making this big picture work.

Of course we won’t overdo it. Everyone knows what happened to Easter Island. We are talking about balance and proportion.

Early Hawaiians understood this; it’s why they sometimes had a kapu on fishing – in order to prevent overtaxing the resource.

At 6:50, David Tarnas presents Robert Rapier’s testimony. Robert was in Austin at the time, where he was lead speaker on the second day of the Association for the Study of Peak Oil conference. Giorgio Calderone and Jason Jeremiah, both from KS, and Noe Kalipi and I also attended that conference.

Robert lives in Waimea and we would love to claim him, but he is more of a national/international representative. He participates in the HECO Integrated Resource Planning process.

His testimony was that the Big Island needs a firm power alternative to oil, and that biomass and geothermal fit that description. His testimony is that the most efficient way to turn biomass (firewood) to electricity is to burn it.

At the 8:30 mark, Elaine Munro talks about the conflict between HECO’s fiduciary duty to the shareholders and the rate payer. She talks about the cost of capital and how the present model results in unnecessary higher costs to the rate payer. We all know that the model is broken.

Lynn Nakim, at 11:00 minutes, talks about environmental effects. Lynn is a neighbor of ours at Hamakua Springs. She uses solar panels for power.

At the 16:00 minute mark, a worker expresses his opinion. The money stays in Hawai‘i and provides jobs for Big Islanders, instead of being sent to foreign countries to pay foreign workers.

Making firm power electricity is mostly about making steam to turn a turbine. Burning wood to make steam is proven technology and will be cheaper and more stable than oil price in the long run.

From Big Island Video News:

HILO, Hawaii: The public expressed widespread support
for the Hu Honua Bioenergy project at Wednesday night’s Public Utilities Commission hearing in Hilo.

Hu Honua Bioenergy LLC is converting the former Hilo Coast
Power Company plant at Pepeekeo into a modern biomass energy facility. The 24-megawatt operation is expected to meet about 10 percent of the island’s electrical needs and about enough for 14,000 homes, once in operation.

Hu Honua has negotiated a power purchase agreement with
Hawaii Electric Light Company, which is subject to approval by the PUC. However, the hearing was triggered by the need to install transmission lines for the project, as explained by this HELCO engineer.

Nevertheless, the hearing created an opportunity for the public to share its views on the entire project.

Speaking in favor of the proposal, the growing forestry industry on the Hamakua Coast, where thousands of acres on the Hamakua Coast are occupied by Eucalyptus trees, ready for harvest….

Read the rest

Biofuel, Community, Geothermal, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources

Rubbah Slippah Folks Turn Out at Kona PUC Meeting

Richard Ha writes:

The Kona PUC hearing we’ve been talking about here took place on Tuesday evening.

From West Hawaii Today:

Powerful resistance to PUC

By Erin Miller

West Hawaii Today

West Hawaii residents described to the Public Utilities Commission how they have cut back on energy usage, and questioned why Hawaiian Electric Light Co. shouldn’t have to bear the costs of upgrading its own equipment.

The questions continued as the PUC heard comments from residents Tuesday evening on a proposed contract between HELCO, Oahu’s Hawaii Electric Co. and Aina Koa Pono for a biodiesel project in Ka‘u.

Albert Prados, manager of the Fairway Villas at Waikoloa Beach Resort, was one of more than 20 people who testified against HELCO’s rate increase request, which HELCO officials would raise rates 4.2 percent, or about $8 per an average 500 kilowatt hour monthly bill. Prados described the measures he has taken in his own home, including shutting everything off except the refrigerator at night, to lower his electricity bill. Read the rest

Mayor Kenoi took a very strong stand on renewable energy. He
made clear that it is not sufficient that it be renewable; it also needs to be affordable. He is concerned about the most defenseless among us.

He said, This is the kind of project that 20 years from now, we will be asking, “How did we let that happen?” He also said that we are doing this for the benefit of HEI and HECO – but that there is no benefit for the Big Island. The Mayor is very aware that high and rising electricity costs threaten our economy and also the folks on the lowest rungs of the economic ladder.

Rep. Denny Coffman asked, “How is it we are here? This is not even proven technology.” He pointed out that the electric utility is setting the state’s energy policy, and that that should stop while we finish the Integrated Resource Planning process that’s happening right now. Rep. Coffman understands the energy situation worldwide and he knows it’s foolish to be chasing unproven technology. It is both a waste of time and money. In Hawai‘i, we do have proven technology that is affordable.

My testimony:

To answer the Consumer Advocate’s question, “Would we change our minds if all the costs were given to the Oahu rate payers?,” the answer is no! I think that giving AKP a 20-year contract will forego the opportunity of developing lower cost alternatives. And it will take up valuable time. Liquid natural gas is an option. Ocean energy might be ready within the 20-year period. Geothermal is an affordable, proven technology. For instance, there is an 11 cent difference between geothermal and oil today. We could replace liquid fuels with 80MW of geothermal electricity, and apply that savings to pay the remaining debt of the Keahole 80 MW liquid fuel burning plant.

(80 MW is equal to 80,000 kilowatts. That 11 cents/kilowatt hour savings multiplied by 80,000 kilowatt hours equals $8,800 that you save each hour. And the savings per day is $211,200. That times 365 days equals an annual savings of $77 million. That is enough to write off the plant and still give the rate payers a break.)

Jeff Ono

Consumer Advocate Jeff Ono asked: “If O‘ahu rate payers would pay the cost, would you still be against the AKP project?”

Most of the time, making electricity has to do with making steam to turn a turbine. You can burn coal to make steam, or you can burn oil to make steam. You can burn firewood to make steam, or use the steam from underground – that’s geothermal.

AKP takes the long way. They grow plants using fossil fuels,
then they use electricity to make microwaves to vaporize the plants, then take the liquid that rises and convert it to a burnable liquid, and haul it to Keahole, where they burn it to make steam.

It isn’t surprising that it is expensive.

More than a few engineer folks tell me that this process
uses more energy than it makes. And if that is the case, it will always be more expensive than oil. This is not a good bet for us.

Palm oil is the only biofuel today that can compete heads up
with petroleum oil. It produces 600 gallons of oil per acre. AKP strives to produce 16 million gallons per acre, plus another 8 million gallons – or 24 million gallons from 12,000 acres. That is 4 times as productive as palm oil, the only biofuel that competes straight up with petroleum oil. If it works, they don’t need any subsidy from us. If it works, they will all end up billionaires.

We cannot predict the price of oil. But people are hurting right now. And if oil prices reach $200 per barrel, the tourism industry will be devastated and everything connected with it will shrink. We do not have the luxury of time. We need a lower cost alternative right now.

Well-respected Council of Revenues economists Paul Brewbaker, of TZE Economics, and Carl Bonham, Executive Director of the
University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization (UHERO), agree that low-cost energy is a key component of our economic future. 

There are alternatives to $200/barrel biofuel. Geothermal is the equivalent of $57/barrel. Liquid natural gas is low cost now on the
mainland, and maybe ocean energy will be an alternative within the time period of the contract.

We need lower cost electricity, not higher, and AKP is not the answer. The AKP project is wasting valuable time, and we need to put it to bed so we can focus our attention on the next projects.

I agree with the electric utility from here forward. The next PUC hearing will be on the Hu Honua biomass plant at Pepe‘ekeo. They will use wood chips to boil water and make steam. This is proven technology and it looks to be cost effective.

After that will be a proposal for 50MW of geothermal. Geothermal does not have to burn anything. It just uses the steam underground to make electricity and it is cost effective.  

At that time, HELCO with its leverage should be able to successfully renegotiate the old contract that is tied to oil. Then we will be well on our way to protecting ourselves from the volatility of world oil prices. Those two projects will result in a total of 110 MW of stable, affordable electricity using proven technology. 

We need to strive for balance and common sense as we try to make things work for everyone. Hospitals, schools, hotels and businesses need the electric services provided by the grid. Fifty percent of our people rent and so cannot get off the grid. We need to be practical, and help to make sure the electric utility is healthy as we strive for a lower cost to the rate payer.

Biofuel, Community, Peak Oil, Renewable Energy Sources

Hilo PUC Meeting Tonight; Read West Hawaii Today Editorial on Aina Koa Pono

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Richard Ha writes:

Tonight is the Hilo PUC meeting and we encourage you to show up and wear your rubbah slippahs. The Rubbah Slippah Revolution is at 6 p.m. in the Hilo High School cafeteria.

The PUC will be hearing HELCO’s proposal for a 4.2 percent rate hike, as well as Aina Koa Pono’s proposed biofuel project.

http://hahaha.hamakuasprings.com/renewable_energy_sources/Mahalo to West Hawaii Today editor Reed Flickinger for a very insightful, timely and important editorial on the subject of Aina Koa Pono.

HELCO PUC hearing meaningless without more fiscal disclosure

By REED FLICKINGER

West Hawaii Today

There is a fundamental problem with the Public Utilities Commission meetings scheduled on this island next week to discuss an application establishing a biofuel surcharge in HELCO’s energy cost for customers: How can the public comment upon unknown information?

HELCO and sister company HECO are seeking approval to enter into a 20-year contract to purchase biodiesel fuel from Aina Koa Pono, a company that has yet to build its proposed plant in Ka‘u, and pass on to us, the ratepayers, any costs that incurred if the biodiesel costs more than fossil fuel on the open market — over the 20-year term of the contract….

Read the rest

He’s exactly right – we have had a hard time articulating about this issue because of a lack of information.

But we figured out that the oil price Aina Koa Pono (AKP) is using is around $200/barrel. And if they were to predict a high oil price in 2015, then the amount the rate payer would pay could be predicted to be very low – like $1 per month. If the cost of oil were actually much lower than $200 per barrel, we would pay a lot more.

But getting back to the real issue: There is a lot at stake here. If AKP cannot demonstrate positive energy production – and they have not done any tests on the feedstock they will use – their product will always cost more than oil and they will run out of money. This also means that they use more oil than they make. But if AKP is successful at producing biodiesel for $200/barrel and the oil price stays below $200 for a long time, the Big Island’s path to economic survival/prosperity will have been blocked.

If oil rises to more than $200/barrel, the tourist industry and other businesses will be very hard hit. In that case, the Big Island will need the lowest cost solution that it can find. And $200/barrel cost is not it.

The rest of HECO’s plan would work, though.

Hu Honua, w/22MW of biomass-low $100/barrel oil equivalence, plus the 50MW of per-barrel oil equivalence geothermal, is lower cost. And if we can renegotiate the old 25MW geothermal avoided cost contract, that sets us on the right path.

The result would be 88 MW of stable and affordable geothermal, plus 22MW of stable affordable biomass. This would ensure that the Big Island’s electricity rates would be lowest in the state. And that is what we want.

Then if we could safely replace the 80 MW of liquid-fired generation at Keahole with geothermal, or ocean thermal or liquid natural gas – whatever makes economic sense – we could actually be looking toward prosperity for future generations.

The bottom line is that AKP is not in the interest of Big Islanders. And this is the defining battle. Everything else is inconsequential.

Please show your face at tonight’s PUC meeting, East Hawai‘i. Let’s make sure the PUC knows this is not okay with us.