HECO's proposals call for rate increase
| • | Graphic (opens in new window): The cost of proposed power lines |
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
WAIPAHU — Hawaiian Electric Co. says it will cost up to $122 million to build the underground transmission line that will best back up O'ahu's electrical system. The project would raise the average residential electric bill by as much as $2 a month, the utility said yesterday.
Those details were released last night before 28 people in Waipahu. It was the first of three community meetings scheduled by HECO to solicit public input before deciding among three alternatives and proceeding with formal application for state approval.
Persistent public opposition was a major factor in last year's defeat of HECO's $35 million proposal to place a power line atop Wa'ahila Ridge. Community and environmental groups spoke out against the project, saying it was not needed and would scar a historic, undeveloped area.
The company hopes with public input this time the project will move ahead more smoothly.
• June 26: Community Advisory Committee meeting • July 24: Public comment deadline • Aug. 1: By this date, HECO expects to make a decision on which alternative it will pursue. • Dec. 31: By the end of 2003, HECO expects to take its plans to the PUC.
"This is an opportunity for people to talk about the impact to their neighborhoods and other kinds of concerns," said HECO spokesman Peter Rosegg. "We wouldn't be doing all this if we weren't convinced this is something that needs to be done. We don't want to jam this down anyone's throats. We are trying to do our jobs and don't want to wake up the day after an outage and people ask why we didn't take care of this."
Timeline
HECO's next two public meetings are tonight in Honolulu and tomorrow in Kane'ohe. Critics said last night's turnout was low because the meeting was held so far from the city and immediately after rush hour. Of the 28 residents in attendance, only eight were from the Waipahu area.
Less than a year after the Wa'ahila Ridge proposal was turned down, HECO last month proposed three new options, all underground lines. The project is needed to make Oahu's electrical service more reliable, the utility said.
HECO says there are critical power concerns from downtown to Hawai'i Kai and on the Windward side of the island, and guarding against blackouts by adding the line is worth the cost.
HECO's preferred alternative is a 3.6-mile, 138,000-volt line connecting the Kamoku substation with the Pukele substation and completing a "ring of reliability" around the island to make sure no areas suffer blackouts, particularly the vulnerable areas of Waikiki, Kahala, Wai'alae, Palolo and Manoa.
• Today: 7 to 9 p.m. at the Dole Cannery Ballroom, 650 Iwilei Road, Honolulu • Tomorrow: 7 to 9 p.m., Hawai'i Pacific University's Hawai'i Loa Campus, Room 101, 45-045 Kamehameha Highway, Kane'ohe
The second alternative — a .9-mile, 46,000-volt line in Ala Moana, McCully and Kapahulu — would give only partial reliability in some areas and cost $41 million, according to HECO. It would also add 70 cents to monthly electric bills. This route would improve electrical lines, bringing power from the Downtown power plants primarily to Waikiki but would not provide backup for some areas.
Public meetings
The third alternative — a 2.8-mile, 46,000-volt line also running through Honolulu — would only be built in addition to the second alternative and add $18 million to the cost, raising the total of the two lines to $59 million and adding an average $1 a month to electric bills. This route would distribute power through downtown to all the other vulnerable areas, minimizing failures if the lines over the Ko'olau Mountains are knocked out.
At the Filipino Community Center in Waipahu last night, members of the audience followed along in a booklet distributed by the company. The booklet featured photos and graphics from the presentation as well as planning, electrical exposure and contact information to comment on the plans.
A question-and-answer session was held after the presentation.
George Ling, 71, of Waipahu, said he does not support the project as presented because "there are many other (electrical) problems on the island that they are not looking at."
Henry Curtis, executive director of Life of the Land, one of three groups that opposed the Wa'ahila project, said yesterday's presentation did not include engineering studies and a needs analysis for the projects, and without those details no one can make a real decision on the plans.
"Without that information it is just a waste of time, I think," Curtis said.
HECO contends that need will be decided by the Public Utilities Commission and included a letter from the commission in its report saying as much. HECO's plans are subject to PUC approval.
Curtis, who is a member of a community advisory committee formed by HECO and that will create a report for the PUC, said although residents, businesses and Wa'ahila opponents are on the committee, Hawaiian groups and a Palolo Valley opposition group have been left out, making true representation incomplete.
The public can comment at several points in the process, Rosegg said, by going to the company's Web site or calling 543-7804.
