Big Isle power addition stalls
| • | Low power demand may delay new Kapolei plant |
By Hugh Clark
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
KEAHOLE, Hawai'i — A court ruling has forced Hawai'i Electric Light Co. to stop construction on its nearly completed $100 million Keahole power plant expansion.
HELCO President Warren Lee said yesterday the setback in bolstering the Big Island's electrical-generating capacity raises the possibility of rolling blackouts in the approaching high-demand holiday season.
It also would be a financial blow to the utility's parent company, Hawaiian Electric Industries, which may have to write off the cost of construction if the project does not resume.
Kona Circuit Judge Ronald Ibarra ruled Thursday that the state Board of Land and Natural Resources erred in granting HELCO a permit extension to continue construction until Dec. 31, 2003. Ibarra said the BLNR exceeded its statutory authority, denied opponents their right to a fair hearing, and made erroneous legal conclusions.
Michael Matsukawa, attorney for the Keahole Defense Coalition, which had filed a court appeal of the BLNR decision, said yesterday he did not know what may happen next. "That's up to HELCO," he said.
The coalition is made up of residents living near the power plant and farmers in the adjoining state agricultural park. They along with others have been waging a 10-year battle to stop the expansion because of fears about air pollution and noise, and its impact on the scenic landscape.
Lee said HELCO is not likely to abandon its investment in the Keahole expansion. "Definitely not. This would be very beneficial to the system. We are so close to rolling blackouts," he said.
One solution, Lee said, may be the utility's pending request before the state Land Use Commission to reclassify the 15-acre site from conservation to urban, but that process could take years.
In a report sent Thursday to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, HEI financial officers said they also are considering an appeal to the Hawai'i Supreme Court or the Hawai'i Intermediate Court of Appeals. If the expansion ultimately is not allowed to proceed, the utility may have to write off a large chunk of the construction and equipment costs, which so far have totalled approximately $81 million, the report said.
The report said construction activities have been suspended and steps are being taken to secure the site and protect equipment and personnel.
The planned Keahole expansion initially would add a pair of 20-megawatt turbines, followed by a later addition of 16 megawatts from a heat-recovery system. The power plant, about eight miles north of Kailua, produces 32 megawatts.
Expansion opponents stalled the project previously, in November 2000, when they successfully argued before Ibarra that the BLNR's three-year construction permit had lapsed.
After the BLNR granted the extension earlier this year, HELCO resumed construction.
Lee said the utility is struggling to meet electricity demand because of the loss of 25 megawatts at the Puna Geothermal Venture plant and because of repairs at its own plants and problems with independent power producers Hilo Coast Power, which has a plant in Pepe'ekeo, and Hamakua Energy Partners, which has a plant at Haina.
