The proposal comes with several "community givebacks," including a 7 percent rate discount for customers in the area encompassed by ZIP Code 96707. That would include 7,000 to 8,000 residents in Makakilo, Kapolei, Honokai Hale and Ko Olina.

Other initiatives include the construction of three environmental stations along the Leeward Coast to monitor air quality, and a fish-monitoring program. HECO also said it would prepare a "report card" for the community on its activities.

The plan is subject to approval by the state Public Utilities Commission. In November, HECO proposed a 7.3 percent rate increase, which is pending before the PUC.

If the new rate is approved, a typical residential bill of 600 kilowatt hours would increase by $6.51 per month to $99.03, HECO officials said. Residents can expect to pay an additional $2 to $3 more per month to cover construction costs of the new plant, the utility said.

HECO said that it will prepare an environmental impact statement and that it hopes to have the plant operating by 2009. The utility first proposed a plant at Campbell Industrial Park in 1997.

HECO spokesman Robbie Alm said the utility agreed to the givebacks after meeting with community members. He said HECO sought their ideas on "reasonable steps to address community concerns."

"There is a growing recognition of the cumulative burden of infrastructure — whether from landfills, industrial parks, power plants or other facilities — placed on certain O'ahu neighborhoods, primarily because zoning and other restrictions leave no alternatives for people who live in those areas," Alm said.

Alm credited Mayor Mufi Hannemann with pushing for the community givebacks.

Jane Ross of Honokai Hale was on the community panel and said she appreciated HECO's effort to meet their concerns. She said she entered the talks with an open mind, but wasn't happy that another industrial plant was proposed for Leeward O'ahu.

"It's not something that I would welcome with open arms, but it probably would have happened anyway, whether we would have wanted it or not," she said. "So I thought it was really big of Hawaiian Electric to even think of giving some kind of a payback to the people who were going to be the most impacted."

She said HECO did reject some of the community's suggestions, including the construction of a new hospital and placement of all electrical lines underground on the Leeward Coast.

HECO's proposal is expected to be opposed by environmental groups and others opposed to another industrial facility in Leeward O'ahu.

Jeff Mikulina, director of the Hawai'i chapter of the Sierra Club, said HECO should develop clean alternatives to oil-burning plants. He said the cost of oil is unpredictable, while the price of alternate sources, such as wind farms, is on the decline.

Speaking of the givebacks, Mikulina said, "It looks good if you accept the premise that we need to build a fossil-fuel power plant in four years. The best they could give to the Leeward community is not to build a new power plant that relies on imported petroleum."

He said HECO has not shown that a new plant is needed.

"The fact of the matter is they don't need 100 megawatts in 2009; they need maybe 10 megawatts and the year after that another 10," he said. "So it gives quite a bit of flexibility for these new technologies as they become less and less expensive, to slowly implement and develop islandwide."

Alm said the island's electricity use is increasing. If no plant is built, the burden on the existing units and reserves could lead to more power failures, he said.

"It's essential to have an adequate level of reserves on an island power grid," Alm said. "We are a standalone utility and we cannot count on anyone but ourselves for the power our customers need."

He said the plant would be "fuel-flexible" and able to burn ethanol, hydrogen or other "environmentally friendly biofuels."