Ka`u News Briefs Aug. 19, 2012

Life of the Land plans to file to intervene in the PUC case concerning `Aina Koa Pono's contract to provide HELCO with biofuel it proposes to make by processing brush, trees and crops from lands between Pahala and Na`alehu. Photo by Julia Neal

 THE `AINA KOA PONO PROPOSAL before the state Public Utilities Commission is the target of the environmental and consumer protection organization Life of the Land. Life of the Land plans to file on Monday to intervene in the case before the PUC to determine whether to allow Hawai`i Electric Light Co. to sign a contract with `Aina Koa Pono at a fixed rate for 20 years to purchase biofuel. The proposal would allow a rate increase of an average of $1 per every 600 kilowatt hours used by residential customers on O`ahu and the Big Island.
       `Aina Koa Pono says it would cut brush and non-native trees on land between Pahala and Na`alehu and grow biofuel crops to feed its proposed microwave depolymerization Micro Dee refinery that would be constructed at the mouth of Wood Valley. The fuel would be trucked to the HELCO plant near Kona Airport.

Life of the Land's Vice President of
Consumer Affairs Henry Curtis

      Regarding `Aina Koa Pono's promise to conduct a voluntary Environmental Assessment of the project, Life of the land, in its motion to the PUC, says, “Life of the Land opposes efforts by some to issue false interpretations of state environmental law. Voluntary Environmental Assessments have no legal basis under Hawai`i law and regulation.”
       Life of the Land’s motion also takes issue with the `Aina Koa Pono and HELCO proposal to allow rate increases on the Big Island and O`ahu, which its sister company services, in order to pay for the `Aina Koa Pono fuel for the Keahole electric plant.
       Life of the Land points to a PUC ruling on March 4, 2011 disallowing charging customers for cost of electricity they do not actually use. However, following the PUC order, Hawai`i Electric Co and `Aina Kona Pono “essentially ‘ambushed’ the public,” to change state law and bypass the commission’s ruling, Life of the Land contends. According to Life of the Land, HECO and `Aina Koa Pono worked to insert an amendment to a housekeeping bill in the state Legislature that was titled and aimed at allowing electronic reporting to the PUC. According to Life of the Land, `Aina Koa Pono and HECO pushed for an amendment to the bill in order to establish new law allowing HECO to charge customers on O`ahu for cost of fuel used only on the Big Island.
       Says Life of the Land: “The House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce held a public hearing on the bill on March 14, 2011; most testifiers assumed that the bill would deal only with electronic filings.”

Chris Eldridge, second from left, is a partner of `Aina Koa Pono.

           `Aina Koa Pono testified at the hearing in favor of the amendment that said: “The purpose of this amendment is to clarify the legislative intent that the renewable portfolio costs of an electric utility and its affiliates may be aggregated and allocated among the customers of the utilities when the electric utility and its affiliates are aggregating their renewable portfolios in order to achieve the renewable portfolio standard.”
       The `Aina Koa Pono testimony given by partner Chris Eldridge said: “In January, 2011, AKP and HELCO entered into a contract for AKP to supply HELCO with up to 16 million gallons of biofuel per year. This contract is the cornerstone on which AKP is financing and developing this project (and) any short-term rate increases in utility rates as a result of this project should be allocated across the state. During these tough economic times, the HELCO-AKP project – and other similar projects – offer a way to achieve substantial economic growth at no cost to the state’s own coffers, all while helping Hawai`i achieve its goals of clean and independent energy.”

       The state House of Representatives’ Consumer Protection Committee allowed the amendment. When the Finance Committee heard the bill on March 28, 2011, HECO testified: “Renewable energy facilities generally exist at specific locations based on the resource involved and are geographically constrained. Currently, facilities utilizing Hawai`i’s renewable resources, such as geothermal, wind and biomass, are more easily developed and are often only available on the neighbor islands. There are far fewer suitable sites for substantial renewable resources on some islands, such as O`ahu, even though O`ahu contributes most to the total kilowatt-hour sales against which the consolidated Renewable Portfolio Standards energy targets must be measured. Thus, O`ahu benefits from the neighbor islands’ implementation of renewable energy projects without the associated cost, as the costs associated with such renewable energy projects are absorbed by the utilities’ respective customers on those neighbor islands.”

       In its motion, Life of the Land also takes issue with the contention that electric customers on other islands should be charged for the `Aina Koa Pono biofuel based on the idea that O`ahu is “resource poor” when it comes to renewable energy. Life of the Land asserts: “There is nothing in the record to indicate that O`ahu lacks renewable energy resources to be energy self-sufficient.” The organization points to a recent U.S. Department of Energy report that estimates O`ahu’s recoverable wave energy resource as eight times the state electricity demand. Life of the Land also states that “O`ahu can get nearly 1,000 MW of photovoltaic energy from rooftop solar.”
       Life of the Land also takes issue with the technicalities of the bill passing the Legislature. “Despite the fact that the Hawai`i State Constitution, Article III, mandates that ‘Each law shall embrace but one subject,’ and that ‘No bill shall become law unless it shall pass three readings in each house on separate days,’ the provision authorizing the Commission to allow HECO ratepayers to subsidize HELCO ratepayers passed the Senate with a single reading; on May 31, 2011 SB1347 was signed by the Governor and became Act 69.”
       Despite the change in the law, the PUC turned down `Aina Koa Pono’s first contract on Sept. 29, 2011. The PUC noted that Life of the Land estimated the total amount of subsidy to be paid by ratepayers for the `Aina Koa Pono biofuel would have been $26.553 million per year, notes the Life of the Land motion to intervene.
      Regarding the recent `Aina Koa Pono proposal, Life of the Land also mentions technology proposed by `Aina Koa Pono. Life of the Land states: “AKP enthusiastically believes in its non-commercially tested biofuel process” and points to `Aina Koa Pono statements:
       “This does not put more carbon into the atmosphere. But it reduces the overall carbon put into the atmosphere. In fact, it’s carbon negative;”
       “The Micro Dee process is a self-contained, closed loop system – with effectively zero emissions;” and “The AKP process produces more than five times the biofuel per acre of feedstock than other liquid fuel technologies and the BTU quality is substantially higher than ethanol and other biodiesel.”
       In regard to overall cost to ratepayers, Life of the Land contends: “The first HECO-`Aina Koa Pono Biofuel Supply Contract was rejected by the Commission, in part because it would have been the most expensive fuel contract ever entered into by the HECO family of utilities. It would have allowed HECO to transfer $250 million of O`ahu ratepayer money to the Big Island over a 20-year period to subsidize a very expensive, unproven solution.
       “By way of comparison, fueling HELCO’s Keahole Power Generation Station with `Aina Koa Pono biofuel will be significantly more expensive than replacing the Keahole Power Generation Station with new geothermal facilities,” states Life of the Land.
       The PUC will decide on whether to allow Life of the Land to intervene in the case. The County of Hawai`i plans to ask to participate in the case, according to Mayor Billy Kenoi, who said the county is looking for cheaper renewable energies rather than more renewable energy.

Baron Kwai Fong Kaho`ola Ching Photo by B. Sanchez

BARON KWAI FONG KAHO`OLA CHING’S Aha `Aina `Uniki was held on the grounds of Pahala Plantation House recently. He is a graduate as Ho`opa`a (chanter) and `Olapa (dancer) of Halau Hula Kalehuaki`eki`eika`iu (ma Honolulu a me Kilauea) under the direction of Ab Kawainohoikala`i Valencia.

KA`U HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI AND FRIENDS’ invite all Ka`u grads, former students and friends to their annual potluck reunion today until 3 p.m. at Pahala Community Center.


BIG ISLAND POLICE are increasing enforcement of drunken driving laws beginning today and running through Sept. 5 as part of a national campaign called “Drive Sober or Get Pulled Over.” Already this year, Big Island police have made more than 800 DUI arrests, and 12 of 24 traffic fatalities this year involved drugs, alcohol or both.

HAWAI`I POLICE DEPARTMENT holds a community meeting on Tuesday from noon to 2 p.m. at Na`alehu Community Center. The public can meet the Police Department’s command staff and discuss police-related concerns with the police chief and commanders who oversee police operations in Ka`u. Those interested in participating but unable to attend may email their concerns or comments to copsysop@hawaiipolice.com. For more information, call Captain Andrew Burian at 939-2520.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. SEE  YOUTUBE.COM/KAUNEWS AND KAUCALENDAR.COM

Ka`u News Briefs Aug. 18, 2012

Proposed location of `Aina Koa Pono's refinery at the mouth of Wood Valley, where 400 construction
workers would build the biofuel plant over three years. Photo by Julia Neal

THE `AINA KOA PONO CASE before the Public Utilities Commission will include participation of the County of Hawai`i, if the PUC approves the county’s request, Mayor Billy Kenoi told West Hawai`i Today. According to a Colin M. Stewart story this morning, the mayor said, “We’re not interested in more renewable energy. We’re interested in cheaper renewable energy. Unless it has lower rates, we will not support it.”

Mayor Billy Kenoi
Photo by Julia Neal

       Kenoi said his administration will ask to legally participate in the discussion on the proposed agreement between Hawai`i Electric Light Co. and `Aina Koa Pono. The contract would set a 20-year fixed rate for purchase of biofuel that `Aina Koa Pono promises to make in a refinery it would build over three years with 400 construction workers at the mouth of Wood Valley above Pahala. The location would be near the corner of Wood Valley Road and Meyer Camp Road near Ka`u Coffee Mill.
       The contract would allow Hawai`i Electric Light Co. to raise electric rates to households on the Big Island and O`ahu by $1 per month for every 600 kilowatt-hours used. The biofuel sold to the electric company would be trucked from Pahala up Hwy 11 to the power plant next to Keahole Airport.
      The contract focuses solely on feeding the one power plant at Keahole and does not address the prospect of additional broad-based electric rate increases should `Aina Koa Pono or other companies propose additional biofuel refineries to make fuel for other electric plants around the state.
       Last year, the county wrote to the PUC that the county is possibly HELCO’s single largest customer, with a bill of approximately $30 million a year. The county also said it is concerned about “the impact the proposed facility and contract with HECO companies will have on the development of other renewable energy resources that do no have the land and greenhouse gas emission impacts associated with the biofuels proposal.”

Pastures between Na`alehu and Pahala are proposed for biofuel crops by `Aina Koa Pono, which says it would work with ranchers to grow feed for their cattle as cattle ranches are displaced for biofuel crops. Photo by Julia Neal

       Last May, the county told the PUC: “The County is not opposed to biofuels as one of a number of possible sources that contribute to the State of Hawai`i’s renewable energy goals, and indeed for the Big Island we are encouraged with the possibilities that a biofuels industry can diversify our island economy. At the same time, we also want to ensure that the development of renewable resources is accomplished in a sustainable fashion. We would point out that the proposed contract will provide an amount of fuel that will account for a substantial percentage of HELCO’s annual energy production. The contract value proposed may be in the range of $50-100 million a year. This represents one of the largest biofuels contracts in the State and is certainly one of the largest that could be contracted on the Big Island for the immediate future.
       “Because the proposed contract is long-term, twenty (20) years, this contract would essentially lock in a cost structure and generation mix for Hawai`i Island that may preclude additional biofuels contracts, and it may well preclude many other forms of renewable energy resources available on the Big Island, including proven technologies such as geothermal, wind and solar. While the immediate impacts of the proposed contract will fall on the citizens of the County, we do believe there are policy implications for the entire State of Hawai`i that this docket will address, including the impact on competition in the renewable generation sector, the proposed surcharge, and HELCO’s proposed generation dispatch modifications.”

Keahole power plant near Kona Airport would be the recipient of
biofuel trucked from Wood Valley Road up Hwy 11.
Photo from Power Plants Around the World

TESTIMONY ON THE `AINA KOA PONO PROPOSAL to sell biofuel at a fixed rate for 20 years to Hawai`i Electric Light Co. for its power plant near Kona Airport is being received by the state Public Utilities Commission.
       One of the latest submissions comes from Larry Johnson, a scientist and resident of Pahala and Alaska. He writes: “First, given the present very high HELCO rates, it is imperative that the PUC limit any increases to the absolute minimum. Contracting for biofuels with AKP by artificially raising rates does not meet this criteria.
      “Second, biofuels have had a troubled technical and economic history across the U.S. One of the leading scientific journals (Scientific American, Aug. 2011) in The False Promise of Biofuels, has detailed many of the technical problems that have repeatedly derailed their production. Even substantial government grants and subsidies have not prevented the closure of many biofuel plants upon the termination of such government funding. The PUC, especially considering the existing high rate structure, should not burden HELCO customers by approving a long-term subsidy for such a high-risk venture. Any subsidy should be pursued through a short-term grant by AKP that both relieves HELCO customers from increased long-term financial liability and would allow HELCO, if they so desire, to contract with AKP at a rate below existing rates.

A rendering from `Aina Koa Pono of  refinery to be built near Wood Valley.

       “Finally, almost two years ago AKP promised that they would release a ‘wells to wheels’ energy analysis for the proposed biofuels project utilizing microwave technology. They have not done so. Whatever the reason (lower energy returns than expected, difficulties in accurately determining energy costs for the microwave technology, etc), the lack of this study raises questions both about AKP’s reliability and the feasibility of the project from both an environmental and an economic standpoint.
       “I appreciate the time and effort spent by the PUC to insure that electric rates for the Big Island are kept as low as possible,” writes Johnson.
       Testimony, referencing docket 2012-0185, can be submitted to the PUC by emailing hawaii.puc@hawaii.gov or mailing to 465 South King Street, #103, Honolulu, HI 96813.

HAWAI`I POLICE DEPARTMENT will hold a community meeting on Tuesday from noon to 2 p.m. at Na`alehu Community Center. The purpose is to allow the public to meet the Police Department’s command staff and to discuss police-related concerns with the police chief and commanders who oversee police operations in Ka`u.
      Those interested in participating but unable to attend may email their concerns or comments to copsysop@hawaiipolice.com.
      For more information, call Captain Andrew Burian at 939-2520.

Boys & Girls Club in Pahala seeks community input at a meeting this
Wednesday. Photo from Boys & Girls Club

BOY & GIRLS CLUB OF PAHALA presents a community stakeholders event at Pahala Community Center Wednesday at 6 p.m. The purpose is for youth organizations, schools, businesses, families, club members and other interested parties to talk about problems facing youth and how to share resources and create partnerships to better serve youth. “This is an opportunity for the community to tell the Boys & Girls Club of Pahala how it can better serve the community,” said Dolly Kailiawa. RSVP by calling Kailiawa at 756-5285.

AN INTEGRATED PEST MANAGEMENT workshop about the coffee berry borer is scheduled for next Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Kona Hongwanji in Kealakekua. Dr. Luis Aristizabal, from Colombia and currently with University of Florida, will be the featured speaker. Topics include What has been successful internationally, what is different in Hawai`i, when CBB swarms, when it moves into trees, proper times to spray and trap as well as effective harvest techniques. Two days of classroom and field lectures cover effective control of CBB.
      Aristizabal has spent his career focusing on control of pests in coffee and has done participatory research with farmers on CBB management for many years. While with the coffee research organization Cenicafe, he taught farmer workshops on IPM for CBB, as well as published a number of studies on biological control.
      $25 registration fee includes lunch on Friday. Register online at kohalacenter.org/cbbworkshop/registration.html or contact Cortney Hoffman at 887-6411 or choffman@kohalacenter.org.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. ALSO SEE KAUCALENDAR.COM AND YOUTUBE.COM/KAUNEWS.

Ka`u News Briefs Aug. 17, 2012

Free-range natural beef is a growing industry in pastures between Pahala and Na`alehu. Photo from Kuahiwi Ranch

HAWAI`I ELECTRIC LIGHT CO. is seeking a 4.2 percent rate increase that could generate almost $20 million in additional income, according to its proposal filed yesterday with the state Public Utilities Commission. The average household electric bill would go up $8.32 a month in 2013 if the proposal is approved. A report in this morning's Hawai`i Tribune Herald quotes HELCO President Jay Ignacio saying, “We need to increase tree trimming, pole and line maintenance and rebuild parts of our transmission system to better serve our customers.” The Colin M. Stewart story reports that HELCO would use $180,000 of the additional $19.8 million in income for “computerized models and tools to analyze integration of more distributed, customer-sited solar power on the grid and enhanced sensors and tools to help system operations manage more variable clean energy on the grid.” Anyone can weigh in on the proposed rate hikes at puc.hawaii.gov.

Sustainable Biofuels and `Aina Koa Pono say they will help prevent even higher electric rates in the future with their new technology. A biofuel plant using the new technology is planned for land along Wood Valley Road, and HELCO has applied to PUC for a 20-year contract to buy the biofuel at a fixed rate. Photo from Sustainable Biofuel Solutions.

THE CHIEF OF SUSTAINABLE BIOFUELS SOLUTIONS, LLC, which owns worldwide distribution rights to the patent-pending microwave depolymerization process planned for a refinery off Wood Valley Road that would sell biofuel to HELCO, is Rear Admiral David J. Nash, U.S. Navy, Retired. According to his LinkedIn profile, Nash, who lives near Washington, D.C. in Vienna, VA, “has over four decades of experience in building, design and program management for both the U.S. Navy and the private sector. His experience includes the management of multi-billion dollar physical asset programs, including the U.S. Navy’s shore installations worldwide and the reconstruction of Iraq’s infrastructure.”



Sustainable Biofuels President
David Nash, a retired Navy admiral.

      Nash, who took the post as president of Sustainable Biofuels when it was founded earlier this year, served as director of the Iraq Program Management Office under the Coalition Provisional Authority and later, as director of the Iraq Reconstruction Management Office under the U.S. State Department. “Under his direction, these organizations managed the $18.4 billion Iraq infrastructure reconstruction,” says his LinkedIn profile. He retired from the Navy in 1998 after 32 years of service.
      Nash’s LinkedIn presentation says that Sustainable Biofuels “does research and development, sales and marketing, project development, manufacturing, installation and operation of waste-to-energy plants throughout the world using technologies developed by TekGar. Currently there are two technologies ready for commercial use. The first patent-pending technology is a microwave depolymerization process that efficiently converts any carbon-based material into a drop-in diesel fuel (ASTM 975). The second technology is a sublimator that converts any carbon-based material into a gas that is high in methane that can be used in generating power efficiently and effectively. Feedstocks for both technologies can range from biomass to municipal waste to used tires to many other similar-based materials,” says the LinkedIn profile.

      Nash is also a senior vice president of MELE Associates, Inc., whose chair and CEO is Melvin Chiogioji, a founding partner of `Aina Koa Pono, which proposes to employ the SBS process for the refinery off Wood Valley Road above Pahala in Ka`u. `Aina Koa Pono has joined with Hawaiian Electric Light Co. to propose a 20-year, fixed fuel price contract between the utility and `Aina Koa Pono to provide fuel for the Keahole power plant near the airport in Kona. The proposal is before the Public Utilities Commission, which turned down a similar contract last year. Both proposals would raise electric rates for customers, not only on the Big Island but for O`ahu and Maui County as well, the current proposal by an average of $1 a month per household electric bill. However, `Aina Koa Pono says that over time, fossil fuel oil is expected to become more expensive and that the biofuel would eventually save money and prevent electric rates from going even higher.
      `Aina Koa Pono says it plans to grow biofuel crops on what is pasture and fallow land between Pahala and Na`alehu.

The Galimba family started turning land into pasture on fallow and old sugar
lands when the plantation started closing down. Photo from Kuahiwi Ranch

KUAHIWI RANCH, with its natural, free-range beef on pastures between Na`alehu and Pahala, is the subject of a feature story in Ke Ola magazine. Ke Ola, which means The Life, celebrates the arts, culture and sustainability of Hawai`i Island. The article points out that Michelle Galimba, her father Al Galimba, mother Sami Galimba, and brother Guy Galimba started the ranch in 1993, when Ka`u sugar operations began to phase out. Al Galimba, who worked around the state managing dairies, came home to develop the ranch. “At the time there wasn’t a lot of land for raising dairy cattle on O`ahu,” Michelle told Ke Ola. “A lot of the dairy farms had housing developments grow up around them, and the cows got more and more confined in feed lots,” she told Ke Ola writer Denise Laitinen.

Natural beef from Kuahiwi Ranch is sold at Alan Wong's,
Kilauea Lodge, `Ohia Cafe and Foodland markets, as well
as at farmers markets. Photo from Kuahiwi Ranch

      The story reports that “In order to raise calves to become the next generation of dairy cows, many were shipped to Ka`u, where they were raised and then shipped back to O`ahu when they were older.” In 1995, when the last dairy farms shut down on O`ahu, the Galimbas switched to beef cattle. Today the ranch takes care of 2,800 head of cattle, free of antibiotics and hormones.
      Michelle told Ke Ola magazine, “There is much more demand than we can fill right now. Not just on this island, but on O`ahu too.” Kuahiwi natural beef can be found at Alan Wong’s and d.k. Steakhouse on O`ahu, Sansei in Waikoloa, and at `Ohia Café and Kilauea Lodge in Volcano. Kuahiwi beef is also sold statewide in Foodland markets and at the farmers markets in Na`alehu, Volcano, Ocean View and on Kino`ole Street in Hilo, the Ke Ola story reports. See more at keolamagazine.com and kuahiwiranch.com.

Runners arrive today to pick up race packets for tomorrow's
Volcano Rain Forest Runs.

VOLCANO ART CENTER’S ANNUAL RAIN FOREST RUNS are tomorrow, and runners arrive today to can pick up race packets until 6 p.m. at the Niaulani Campus. A luncheon at the Art Center Campus with complimentary pupus and wine is 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., and an all-you-can-eat carbo-load and salad buffet is 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Cooper Center. Opening ceremonies are tomorrow at 6:30 a.m. at Cooper Center on Wright Road in Volcano. Half Marathon starts at 7 a.m., 10K at 7:30 a.m., 5K at 7:45 a.m. and Keiki Runs at 10 a.m. All events are open to runners and walkers of all ages and abilities. Registration fees range from $35 to $75. Contact Sharron Faff at 967-8240 or rainforestruns.com.

OCEAN VIEW COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION’S monthly BBQ is tomorrow from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Ocean View Community Center. Call 937-7033.

KA`U HIGH SCHOOL ALUMNI AND FRIENDS’ 11th annual potluck reunion invites all Ka`u grads and former students and friends this Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Pahala Community Center.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM.