Imperium
Renewables Inc: HECO-Imperium Biodiesel Supply Contract
(over 80 parts redacted)
The Hawai`i Consumer Advocate
(Hawai`i Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs) pushed Hawaiian
Electric Company (HECO) to quickly convert to 100 percent
biofuels. Life of the Land asked Information Requests (Discovery) to
determine why the Consumer Advocate pushed for biofuels. The Consumer
Advocate took 7 weeks to come up with the following answers
DOCKET NO. 04-0046
HAWAII ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY, INC. (''HELCO'')
DIVISION OF CONSUMER ADVOCACY’S RESPONSES TO
LIFE OF THE LAND’S FIRST SUBMISSION OF INFORMATION REQUESTS
Pacific Business News
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Hawaiian
Electric Co. said it has picked a Seattle company to
supply it with the biodiesel it needs for a new power plant at Campbell
Industrial Park.
Imperium Renewables, Inc. will provide between
5 million and 12 million gallons of biodiesel per year to HECO starting
in 2009 when the $130 million power plant is scheduled to open. The
contract runs through 2011.
The 110-megawatt plant will run exclusively on
"green" fuels such as biodiesel, which can be made from vegetable oil
and other feedstocks.
Imperium is off to a fast start becoming
Hawaii's biggest biodiesel provider. It is already in the permitting
stage to build a biodiesel processing plant down the street from HECO's
new power plant and the company says it will be able to produce 100
million gallons of biodiesel a year, far above HECO's needs.
HECO, a subsidiary of Hawaiian
Electric Industries (NYSE: HE) and Imperium said they are
committed to using Hawaii-grown feedstock to produce the biodiesel and
that Imperium will "preferentially purchase sustainably-grown Hawaii
feedstocks where available."
HECO said Imperium was selected through a
competitive bid process but declined to reveal the financial details.
Imperium opened its first biodiesel plant in
Grays Harbor, Wash. in August and said it is the largest facility of
its kind in the United States.
Imperium Renewables Inc (IRI): Filing with
the United States Securities and Exchange Commission
''Palm Oil. We have entered into a three-year contract with Cargill
International Trading Pte Ltd. for delivery of palm oil to our
production facilities, which we believe will be sufficient to provide
up to 100% of our palm oil feedstock requirements through 2010.''
sec.edgar-online.com/2007/05/23/0001193125-07-121562/Section19.asp
Imperium Renewables Inc
(IRI): Kalaeloa Biodiesel Plant
Draft Environmental Assessment
''IRI has included the following language regarding sustainability in
our contracts with our first supplier of palm oil, Cargill''
''We will continue to use palm oil as a feedstock for biodiesel
production and will gladly defend this decision to critics who refuse
to look at the true problems facing our world and who instead focus on
excluding an extremely versatile and efficient crop for reasons more to
do with ignorance and protectionism than reality.''
The
Hawaii Science & Technology Council presents 2nd Friday Tech: A
Monthly Networking Breakfast
Friday, October 12,
7:30am-9:30am
The Pacific Club, 1451 Queen Emma St. Oahu
John Rei, Chief Operating Officer, Sopogy,
Inc.
Scott Higa, Engineer, Honolulu
SeaWater Air Conditioning
David Leonard, Chief Operating Officer, Imperium Renewables Inc (IRI)
Dr. David L. Bodde, Senior Fellow and Professor, Arthur M. Spiro Center
for Entrepreneurial Leadership, Clemson University
David Leonard talked about everything but palm oil. Henry Curtis asked
about palm oil, and Imerium's contract for palm oil with Cargill.
David Leonard and Adrienne Barnes ( Imperium Renewables Hawai'i LLC
Project Specialist) stated that they are not using palm oil; that any
statement that they are is not true. Furthermore, that Cargill contract
is not referenced in the EA.
Here is the truth:
''Palm Oil. We have entered into a three-year contract with Cargill
International Trading Pte Ltd. for delivery of palm oil to our
production facilities, which we believe will be sufficient to provide
up to 100% of our palm oil feedstock requirements through 2010.''
sec.edgar-online.com/2007/05/23/0001193125-07-121562/Section19.asp
''IRI has included the following language regarding sustainability in
our contracts with our first supplier of palm oil, Cargill'' (Imperium
Draft EA)
''We will continue to use palm oil as a feedstock for biodiesel
production and will gladly defend this decision to critics who refuse
to look at the true problems facing our world and who instead focus on
excluding an extremely versatile and efficient crop for reasons more to
do with ignorance and protectionism than reality.'' (Imperium Draft EA)
HECO,
MECO, HELCO to turn over energy efficiency programs to Third Party
effective January 2009.
PUC Order 23681, September 26, 2007 "Energy Efficiency" will refer to
the savings of energy usage "Load Management" will refer to direct
control or management of the load "Demand-Side Management " will refer
to Energy Efficiency and Load Management collectively.
The transition to a third-party administrator will: (1) "remove
the perceived inherent conflict between a utility's desire to generate
revenues and income, and Energy Efficiency measures that serve to
decrease sales and defer the need for additional plant
investment"; (2) "facilitate the introduction of innovative
Energy Efficiency programs to the State, resulting in greater customer
choice, increased participation levels, and higher overall energy
savings"; and (3) "improve the cost-effectiveness of administering DSM
programs.
Should utilities
be penalized for not meeting Renewable
Portfolio
Standards guidelines?
The Public Utilities Commission (''PUC'';
''Commission'') opened docket 2007-0008 to examine this issue (Order
No. 23191, January 11, 2007). The Order stated: '' the parties ...
shall have the opportunity to ... suggest other issues for resolution
in this proceeding for the commission's review and consideration.''
The Parties in the docket are: the four utilities: HECO, MECO, HELCO,
KIUC; the
Consumer Advocate (Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs); Hawaii
Renewable Energy
Alliance; and Life of the Land.
On July 7, 2007
HECO
amended their Statement of Position: ''The HECO Companies need to
lay down the ''highway'' to all the known sites of this energy (and
they are essentially known), and enhance their systems with control
features that will facilitate acceptance of these renewable energy
resources, in particular, non-firm renewable energy power.''
HECO proposed a ratepayer
surcharge on
every bill to finance in advance to acquire funds
''needed'' for infrastructure expansion. HECO proposed that O`ahu
ratepayers finance projects on Neighbor Islands.
This approach would change the way rates are handled in this state.
Currently two rate mechanisms are used: (1) The utility gets approval
to build a project, they build it, then in a rate case before the PUC
the utility shows that the new facility is ''used and useful'' that is,
it is required for their system. Then ratepayers finance it. (2) The
Energy Cost Adjustment Clause allows the utility to recover added fuel
cost as they spend money buying fuel.
On September 18, 2007 the parties met. The Consumer Advocate pointed
out that HECO was in essence adding a rate hike to a non-rate docket,
and that Hawaii Revised Statutes required a public hearing and allow
additional parties to intervene: Hawaii
Revised
Statutes
''§269-16 Regulation of utility rates; ratemaking
procedures. ... (c) A contested case hearing shall be held in
connection with any increase in rates, and the hearing shall be
preceded by a public hearing as prescribed in section 269-12(c), at
which the consumers or patrons of the public utility may present
testimony to the commission concerning the increase.''
HECO: If you will not support establishing this mechanism, at least let
us use it temporarily for certain projects that we will not
identify.
Consumer Advocate: The rate hike requires a new docket, public
hearings, and the right of other parties to intervene.
Then the Consumer
Advocate reversed their position
On Friday,
October 12,
2007, HECO, MECO, HELCO, KIUC, Consumer Advocate, and HREA filed a
Joint Stipulation with the PUC
for
increased rates on all ratepayer bills to finance new
overhead transmission lines on Oahu, Maui, and the Big Island using an
expedited hearing process to develop renewable energy
projects that HECO chooses.
The Consumer Advocate said that all rate hikes require public hearings
on all islands and should be in a rate case. Then in their filing with
the Commission, they agreed to a surcharge on all bills. What happened
behind closed doors?
What changed? Why did the Consumer
Advocate feel HECO no longer has to obey state law? Why did they cave
in? Why does the Consumer
Advocate sound like a Utility Advocate?
KIUC:
Final Statement of Position
Life of the Land: Final
Statement of Position
HREA: Final Statement of Position
Consumer Advocate Final Statement of Position
HECO Final Statement of Position
The Public Utilities Commission opened up a docket to
RPS Stipulation FINAL redlined (2)a.doc
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Exhibit A - RPS Framework FINAL.DOC
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Exhibit B - HECO COMPANIES PROPOSED
RENEWABLE ENERGY
INFRASTRUCTURE PROGRAM.DOC
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Exhibit C to Stipulation - Project
Descriptions FINAL.DOC
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Life of the Land opposed the Stipulation.
(1) The rate hike is illegal:
(2) HECO should publicly explain what projects are
included, which are
excluded, and why.
The PUC will rule by December 31, 2007.
The GreenHouse
Gas Emissions Reduction Task Force (GHGERTF)
Meeting
Number 1 * October 4, 2007 * 1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
State
Office Tower, 235 South Beretania Street, Room 405
1. Introduce the Task Force Members
2. Understand Responsibilities Under Act 234
3. Understand the Provisions of Hawaii's Sunshine Law as it Affects the
Task Force
4. Discuss Proposed Management Plan and Budget
5. Outline Task Force and Meeting Procedures
6. Discuss Task Force Activities, Sequence and Schedule
7. Share Task Force Members' Perspectives on Topics Covered and Related
Initiatives
8. Public Comment
Meeting Notes
Seven of the ten task force members were
present, including
one proxy. The two chairs are allowed proxies, but the other members
are not. There was no internet posting of this meeting. Packets were
handed out to the members, but there was only one spare for the
audience. The room was long and narrow, with a noisy air
conditioning unit. All told, about 28 people were present, with Shannon
Wood (Windward Ahupua`a Alliance), and Kat Brady and Henry Curtis (Life
of the Land) representing the public.
At the meeting, Deputy Attorney General Gregg Kinkley
gave a detailed accounting of both the
concept and the legal requirement of sunshine. Kinkley is a former
Executive Director of the Division of
Consumer Advocacy (DCCA) which is supposed to represent consumers
before the Public Utilities Commission (PUC); a former PUC
Commissioner; and the Deputy AG assigned to this task force. He stated
that he supports sunshine and he stated that he will interpret the law
favorably to the public.
DBEDT
brought four staff members to
the meeting: John Tantlinger, Steve Alber,
Karen Shishido and Estrella A. Seese. Karen Shishido has
been active in land trusts,
sustainability conferences, energy policy, as an aide to Anne
Kobayashi, and a staff member for the Office of Planning's Marine and
Coastal Zone Advocacy Council. She recently joined DBEDT. Estrella Seese had
worked for HECO for at least a decade on
Rate Analysis, Standby Charges, Time Of Use Rates, and Load Analysis.
She testified at PUC evidentiary hearings.
Third-Party Energy Efficiency Administer
Public Utilities Commission Order No. 23681
Filed September 26, 2007
By this Order, the commission initiates an investigation to examine the
issues and requirements raised by, and contained in, Hawaii Revised
Statutes (HRS) 269-121.
For the purposes of this Order, the term ''Energy Efficiency'' will
refer to the savings of energy usage; the term ''Load Management'' will
refer to direct control or management of the load; and the term
''Demand-Side Management '' or will refer to Energy Efficiency and Load
Management collectively.
In Docket No. 05-0069 (the ''Energy Efficiency Docket''), the
commission examined which market structure may be the most appropriate
for providing Demand Side Management (DSM) programs. By Decision and
Order No. 23258, filed on February 13, 2007, in Docket No. 05-0069
(''Decision and Order No. 23258'' ) , the commission determined, inter
alia, that all of the HECO Companies' Energy Efficiency DSM programs
shall transition from the HECO Companies to a third-party administrator
by January 2009, unless otherwise ordered by the commission.
As
described in Decision and Order No. 23258, the commission expects that
the transition to a third-party administrator will (1) ''remove the
perceived inherent conflict between a utility's desire to generate
revenues and income, and Energy Efficiency measures that serve to
decrease sales and defer the need for additional plant
investment'';
(2) ''facilitate the introduction of innovative Energy Efficiency
programs to the State, resulting in greater customer choice, increased
participation levels, and higher overall energy savings'' ; and (3)
''improve the cost-effectiveness of administering DSM programs.''
In addition, by Decision and Order No.
23258, the commission determined that it shall establish a Public
Benefits Fund (''PBF'') and appoint a fund administrator to operate and
manage the programs under the PBF. The commission also determined
that
the HECO Companies' Load Management programs shall be excluded from the
third-party administrator's area of responsibility.
Since they have information that will assist the commission in this
investigation, the commission, sua sponte, names as parties to this
proceeding, HECO, HELCO, MECO, and the Consumer Advocate (Department of
Commerce and Consumer Affairs)
At this time, the commission is uncertain as to the interests of the
other parties and participants of the Energy Efficiency Docket. Rather
than naming those entities as parties to this proceeding, the
commission will serve them with a copy of this Order initiating this
proceeding.
These issues
include, but are not limited to:
1. Establishment of the PBF
2. Request For Proposal or Other Appropriate Procedure
3. Qualification Requirements of the PBF Administrator
4. Duties and Responsibilities of the PBF Administrator
5. Program Implementation
6. Transition Plan
During the course of this
investigation, the parties (and intervenors
and participants, if any) shall have the opportunity to propose
refinements to the foregoing purposes, matters and issues to be
considered and resolved in this proceeding.
Any interested individual, entity, agency, or community or business
organization desiring to intervene as a party or to participate without
intervention in this proceeding
shall file a motion to intervene or
participate without intervention not later than twenty (20) days from
the date of this Order, An individual, entity, agency , or
community
or business organization that files a motion to intervene or
participate without intervention is required to disclose whether it is
a potential bidder to be the PBF Administrator. Motions to intervene or
participate without intervention must comply with all applicable rules
of Hawaii Administrative Rules (HAR) Chapter 61.
Subsequent to determining the
parties and participants in this docket,
the commission may issue an order establishing, among other things, the
schedule of proceedings , issues, hearing date (s) , if any, and other
procedures needed to govern the instant proceeding. Alternatively, the
commission may require the parties (and intervenors and participants,
if any) to submit a stipulated prehearing (or procedural ) order for
the commission's review and approval.
Hawaiian Electric Company's Solicitation
of Interest for Intermittent Renewable Energy
Hawaiian Electric
Company
wants more renewable energy in Oahu's power grid. The company has
issued a Solicitation of Interest seeking bids from renewable energy
developers. Subject to approval from the Hawaii Public Utilities
Commission (PUC), Hawaiian Electric then will follow up with a formal
Request for Proposals (RFP).
Meeting Oahu's future
energy needs will take a diverse
portfolio of actions, including maintaining and evaluating the greening
of the utility's existing plants, adding even more renewable energy --
including biofuels, wind, solar, ocean energy, seawater
air-conditioning and other sources -- and increased energy conservation
and efficiency. For Hawaiian Electric, this call for more renewables
for Oahu is another major step in that direction.
The proposed RFP will most likely ask bidders
to submit a base proposal for their project to provide up to 100
megawatts (MW) of non-firm renewable energy and may also allow bidders
to submit additional alternate larger proposals or subsequent phased
increments of more renewable energy.
The additional renewable energy will
complement existing renewable resources on Oahu, including the H-POWER
garbage-to-energy plant which provides 46 MW and the new Campbell
Industrial Park plant which will provide 110 MW using biofuels starting
in 2009.
Meeting Oahu's future energy needs will take a
diverse portfolio of actions, including maintaining and evaluating the
greening of the utility's existing plants, adding even more renewable
energy -- including biofuels, wind, solar, ocean energy, seawater
air-conditioning and other sources -- and increased energy conservation
and efficiency. For Hawaiian Electric, this call for more
renewables for Oahu is another major step in that direction.
In addition to the planned RFP, Hawaiian
Electric
is continuing efforts to complete discussions with other potential
renewable energy providers who began working with the utility before
the PUC required competitive bidding.
Life of the Land's Email to the Public
Utilities Commission re
Hawaiian
Electric Company (HECO) Solicitation of Interest (SOI)
September
27,
2007
HECO filed a document with the Public
Utilities Commission on
September 24, 2007 stating that HECO would be sending out a
Solicitation of Interest on September 28, 2007. HECO mailed notice of
the Solicitation of Interest to the other parties in the IRP-3 and
Competitive Bidding dockets on September 26, 2007. We humbly ask the
Commission to consider our thoughts.
(1) State sunshine law requires 6 days notice.
(2) The SOI will be for intermittent renewable
energy. Thus
owners of more desired baseload renewable systems would have to
sabotage their systems to make it intermittent to qualify. This is not
in the public interest.
(3) The PUC issued Decision & Order 23121
on December 8,
2006 that they must decide in an IRP docket whether to use competitive
bidding for new load. The PUC issued Order 23312, dated March 21, 2007,
in effect closing HECO IRP-3 and approving a Stipulation signed by all
parties which transferred all outstanding issues to HECO IRP-4. This is
not in dispute by HECO. Footnote 1 on page 1 of their 9/24 letter says
as much.
(4) HECO states that the PUC must decide in an
IRP docket
whether the competitive bidding process shall be used. The only open
HECO IRP docket is HECO IRP-4.
(5) HECO has not submitted any documentation
on excusable
neglect. After all, HECO knew or should have known about this problem
for months.
(6) Life of the Land presented testimony in
Docket No. 05-0145
supporting baseload renewable (Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion) and
baseload renewable displacement (Sea Water Air Conditioning). HECO
chose not to cross-examine our witnesses. We continue to believe that
OTEC and SWAC should be allowed to compete for new load.
(7) We wish the opportunity to buff out,
expand, and put in a
formal filing the issues listed above.
Therefore we request that the PUC delay or
stop the SOI until
there is time for all parties to protect their interests.
UPC Wind Letter (September
20, 2007)
Public
Utilities Commission Letter (October 1, 2007): a new docket will be
opened to examine these issues
Grid
Connected Wave Energy
System
Honolulu Advertiser October 3, 2007
Ocean Power Technologies Inc., a company developing electrical
generators that harness wave energy, said it received an additional
$1.9 million in its contract to install one of its systems off O'ahu.
The money supports the testing and monitoring of one of the company's
PowerBuoy systems that is to be deployed about one mile off Marine
Corps Base Hawaii at Kane'ohe Bay.
George W. Taylor, chief executive officer of Pennington,
N.J.-based Ocean Power, said most of the money will go toward the
installation of the latest generation of its 40-kilowatt buoys, which
will be installed about 100 feet above the sea floor. Taylor said the
company has tested several buoys here, but that the newest buoy will be
connected to a cable that interfaces with Hawaiian Electric Co.'s
system. "This one will be the first one connected to the grid," said
Taylor in a telephone interview. The project entails installing,
testing and connecting to a grid of multiple buoys.
The company said data from the test will also support
engineering of the next generation of its buoys. The Navy is also
monitoring progress of the test for possible expansion of the systems
to other bases. The company said previous tests off Windward O'ahu
included an environmental assessment by an independent engineering
company to check on the potential impacts on the seabed, sea quality,
fish and other organisms. Ocean Power said that test found no
significant impact on the environment. "We expect to leverage this
program in the commercial expansion of our business internationally,"
Taylor said.
Hawaii
Public
Utilities
Commission's
Web Site DISCLAIMER NOTICE
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission's web
site, www.hawaii.gov/budget/puc
,
including the information found on the web site, is provided as a
public service, and should not be construed as official government
records. The information contained on the web site is dynamic and will
change over time. Users of the web site are therefore fully responsible
for determining the accuracy, completeness, and/or suitability of the
information.
The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission including its employees and duly
authorized agents, (1) disclaims any and all liability for any claims
or damages that may result from providing the web site or the
information found on the web site, (2) gives no warranty, expressed or
implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, completeness, or usefulness
of the information found on the web site, and (3) does not assume any
legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, reliability,
completeness, or usefulness of such information.
The web site contains links to information created and maintained by
other public and private organizations. These links are provided for
your convenience. The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission does not
control or guarantee the accuracy, relevance, timeliness or
completeness of this outside information.
The 2050 Task Force Draft Plan: ''2050 Indicators: ... Percentage
use
of renewable and alternative energy. ... Percentage of new cars
purchased that use renewable fuel technology. ... Recognize and support
established industries such as the visitor industry, military,
construction and agriculture as strong components of the Hawai‘i
economy. ... Reduce regulations and lower the cost of running a
business. ... Those industries include, but are not limited to,
renewable energy, innovation and science-based industries, and
environmental technologies ... Adopt building codes that encourage
'green building' technology''
The 2050 Task Force has come up with lofty goals for 2050. The Task
Force members are mostly political leaders. Yet there is little or no
action by these leaders towards sustainability today. In Hawaii in the
last few years policy makers have defined coal converted into ethanol,
fossil fuel converted in biodiesel, and heat recovered from boiling oil
as renewable energy. They have defined coal and as alternative
transportation fuels. Suggesting green building standards with no
requirements, no inspections, no enforcement, giant loopholes, and
faulty definitions will not solve anything. On O`ahu an owner of a
fenced agricultural McMansion can rent-a-horse one day a year to
qualify for the maximum agricultural property tax break.
Members: The Task Force consists of 25 members appointed by the
Governor, Speaker of the House, Senate President, and Mayors of the
counties of Hawaii, Kauai, Maui, and Honolulu, and the President of the
University of Hawaii. The Director of the State Office of Planning and
the State Auditor serve as Task Force members as well.
Russell S. Kokubun (Chair, State Senator);
Lyla B. Berg, Ph.D. (State
Representative); Pono Chong (State Representative); Suzanne Chun
Oakland (State Senator); Ian Costa (Director, Department of Planning,
County of Kauai); Henry Eng (Director, Department of Planning and
Permitting, City and County of Honolulu); Mike Gabbard (State Senator);
David Goode (President, KSD Hawaii); Marion M. Higa (State Auditor);
Jeffrey Hunt (Director, Department of Planning, County of Maui); Karl
Kim, Ph.D. (Professor and Chair, Department of Urban and Regional
Planning, University of Hawaii); Millicent Kim (Consultant); Keith
Kurahashi (President, Kusao and Kurahashi, Inc.); Brad Kurokawa
(Deputy Planning Director, County of Hawaii); Colleen Rose Meyer (State
Representative); Keith Rollman (Special Advisor, Department of
Information Technology, City and County of Honolulu); James Spencer,
Ph.D. (Assistant Professor, Department of Urban and Regional Planning,
University of Hawaii); Jane Testa (Director of Research and
Development, County of Hawaii); Laura Thielen (Director, State Office
of Planning); Stacie Thorlakson (Consultant); Beth Tokioka (Director of
Economic Development, County of Kauai); Jill Tokuda (State Senator);
Michael Tresler (Vice President, Grove Farm); Pamela Tumpap (President,
Maui Chamber of Commerce); Ryan I. Yamane (State Representative)
BlueEarth Presentation
Utility executives will appear today at a meeting of the Kiwanis
Club of Kahului to present an overview of the BlueEarth Biofuels Maui
biodiesel project. BlueEarth President Landis Maez and Maui
Electric Co. President Ed Reinhardt will explain the manufacturing and
consumption of the fuel to be refined here. The meeting will
begin at noon in the Maui Beach Hotel Molokai Room. Lunch is available
from the hotel’s snack shop for a fee, although there’s no charge for
attending the event. Maui News (October
2, 2007)
Darren T. Kimura, Energy Industries
Flavors of Technology on Sept. 30 at the Sheraton Waikiki. The event
will recognize Energy Industries as Technology Company of the Year and
Debra Pyrek of Title Guaranty of Hawaii as Technology Woman of the
Year. The Pacific Technology Foundation named Hawaii-based Energy
Industries its technology company of the year, citing the growth,
community service, innovation and potential demonstrated by the energy
consulting firm. "In 2006 this honor went to Sony," said Darren
T. Kimura, Energy Industries founder and board member, in a news
release. "This year Energy Industries is being honored with this award.
That's a big statement and pays tribute to our team, their focus and
ability to execute." Kimura started the company on the Big
Island, working from his car. Energy Industries now has a national
presence, working to help companies reduce energy expenses. “In
1994 when I started my career in Energy it was a laughing matter being
an entrepreneur trying to green-up businesses with energy efficiency
and renewable energy solutions. Today we honor them. It really pays
tribute to the amazing cultural paradigm shift our society has
undergone and I’m really proud to be a part of this.” said Darren T.
Kimura, Founder and Chairman of the Board of Energy Industries.
Pacific Business News (October 1, 2007), Honolulu Star Bulletin
(September 19, 2007), Honolulu Advertiser (October 1, 2007)
Moloka`i Solar
Last Thursday, U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Energy Coordinator
Tim McConnell ... told the group at the DHHL conference room at Kulana
'Oiwi. "Probably every business on Molokai would qualify as a small
business." Two Molokai small businesses have already qualified for USDA
money: accountant Kim Markham, and Molokai Drug Store. Both are going
solar. Kim Markham, a bookkeeper, has been selected to receive a
$16,747 grant to help defray the costs of a 6.15 kW photovoltaic
system. The system will also support the expansion of the bookkeeping
service and will be utilized to provide lights, fans, computer system,
satellite receiver, and storage areas. To qualify as a small business,
he said, a company must have fewer than 500 employees and make less
than $6 million a year.
But there's a catch: the grants can only constitute 25 percent of the
project, and must range between $2,500 and $500,000 for renewable
energy projects and $1,500 and $250,000 for energy efficient
improvements projects. Any renewable energy project under $10,000 means
that the farmer in question has to foot the bill. As for loans, they
can make up no more than 50 percent of a project's total cost and must
range between $5,000 and $10,000,000. Eligible renewable energy systems
include biomass, wind power, solar power, an anaerobic digester (which
converts things like livestock waste into energy), and geothermal
power. O'Connell and Maui County Energy Commissioner Victor Reyes, the
workshop's second speaker, emphasized Hawaii's need to get off oil. ...
Reyes also gave an overview of energy
sources that are currently being
explored. This included starchy, not-too-thirsty cassava plant and
succulent, tropical jatropha, both of which are potential sources of
ethanol. (Molokai Times, September 24, 2007) (Molokai Times, September
30, 2007)
Ocean Power Technologies
Ocean Power Technologies, the New Jersey-based company, received $1.9
million to continue its project for the U.S. Navy at the U.S. Marine
Corps Base in Hawaii at Kaneohe Bay, off Oahu. The project includes the
installation, testing and grid connection of multiple proprietary
PowerBuoys. OPT was not required to use the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission process for installation of the buoys at a
military base. However, it underwent environmental assessment by an
independent engineering company in accordance with the National
Environmental Policy Act, the release said. The study featured
evaluation of potential impacts on the seabed; fish, organisms and
mammals; vegetation; and sea quality. The study concluded there would
be no significant impact on the environment. (The World Link, October
3, 2007)
Cloning Jatropha on the Big Island
The nonprofit Hawaii County Economic Opportunity Council received
a $677,000 grant for cloning and mass production of jatropha plant
seedlings, a crop that would be marketed to commercial growers in the
state's emerging biodiesel industry. The project will see the
production of 3 million seedlings within three years, according to a
new release from the office of U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka.
"This project is an important step forward in our vision for a self
sustaining energy future for Hawaii and our goal of significantly
reducing green house emissions," Akaka said in the release. The
project will create 70 jobs, employing 15 tissue culture laboratory
technicians, five field research technicians, 30 laboratory and field
equipment operators and 20 field workers. Jatropha is one of
several feedstocks for the production of biodiesel. (Pacific Business
News, October 4, 2007)
The Hawai‘i Energy Policy Forum Interim
Report (August 2007)
The Forum co-sponsored a workshop on biofuels development on October
27, 2006. On August 20, 2007, the Forum co-sponsored an energy
briefing with the Hawaiian Electric Company, requested by the U.S.
Departments of Energy and Commerce. The briefing presented federal and
private initiatives to increase the pace of commercialization of new
renewable energy technologies.
To create broader reach into the larger community, the Forum is
currently exploring production of an hour-long documentary on the
climate crisis, and encouraging community action on energy initiatives
being addressed by the Forum. In collaboration with the Hawaiian
Electric Company, the Forum is exploring the joint sponsorship of a
prime-time aired production. With the addition of Congress members Neil
Abercrombie and Mazie Hirono and Senator Daniel Akaka, the Forum now
has representation from all four of Hawaii’s congressional delegation.
The Forum is planning to invite additional members from land use
planning and the Department of Health.
Steering Committee:
Warren Bollmeier, Mitch Ewan, Carl Freedman, Mark Glick, Steven Golden,
Mike Hamnett, Paula Helfrich, Shad Kane, Bill Kaneko, Darren Kimura,
Stephen Meder, Peter Rosegg.
Renewables Working Group:
Warren Bollmeier (Co-Chair), Mitch Ewan (Co-Chair), Stephen Meder, Tim
O’Connell, Riley Saito, Robbie Alm
Hydrocarbons
Futures/Energy Security Working Group: Steven Golden (Chair),
Terry Surles, Warren Bollmeier, Mitch Ewan
Energy
Efficiency/Conservation Working Group: Darren Kimura (Co-Chair),
Stephen Meder (Co-Chair), Bill Short, Terry Surles, Allyn
Lee
Regulatory Reform
Working Group: Carl Freedman (Chair), Terry Surles
Social & Cultural
Impacts Working Group: Shad Kane (Co-Chair), Paula Helfrich
(Co-Chair), Mark Glick (Co-Chair), Richard Paglinawan
Communication &
Outreach Working Group: Bill Kaneko (Co-Chair), Peter
Rosegg (Co-Chair), Jeff Mikulina, Riley Saito, Tim O’Connell, Paula
Helfrich
Greenhouse Gas
Emissions Working Group: Mike Hamnett (Chair), Carl Freedman,
Rick Rocheleau, Denise Konan, Carl Bonham, Terry Surles, Sam Pintz,
Paul Bernstein
Solar Costco
Costco Wholesale Corp. has chosen its Big Island store for the
company's first solar-electric power system. The
156,000-square-foot Kailua-Kona store is being outfitted with a
680-kilowatt solar electric system, one of the largest such systems to
be installed in the state. Issaquah, Wash.-based Costco has hired
REC Solar Inc. to install 2.5 megawatts of photovoltaic panels on four
of Costco's warehouse locations -- two in Hawaii, including the Big
Island and Kauai, and two in California. The two Hawaii systems
should be in place by the end of the year, according to Craig Peal,
Costco's assistant vice president of energy and building
controls. If successful, Costco will look into installing solar
panels on its other four stores in Hawaii. (Honolulu Star
Bulletin, September 12, 2007)
Rooftop Concentrating Solar Power
Sopogy, based in Honolulu, has taken the basic design of large solar
thermal power plants and shrunk it down so it can fit on a building's
roof. Concentrating solar power, or CSP, uses reflective troughs
or dishes to concentrate sunlight to heat a liquid that flows through a
pipe above the troughs. That heated liquid, which can be oil or water,
is converted into steam to turn an electric turbine. Sopogy is thinking
small. Each individual collector produces 500 watts. That's roughly
what a house consumes, but strung together in an array on the ground or
on a roof, these panels could supply a chunk of a commercial building's
needs, for example.
In a project in Hawaii, the company will be connecting several of its
MicroCSP units together to generate one megawatt, according to Kimura.
That plant, now in the permitting phase, is expected to go online in
January of next year and be completed by late summer. Last month
Sopogy signed on Avista Utilities, based in Spokane, Wash., to test the
system in northern Idaho scheduled to be operating by next summer.
The U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratories estimates that solar
thermal technology can supply hundreds of gigawatts of electricity, or
more than 10 percent of demand. ... An important piece of data
still needed on Sopogy's demonstration systems is cost per kilowatt in
different areas and at different times of the year. Right now,
its system can produce electricity at somewhere between 12 and 16 cents
per kilowatt-hour. That's higher than fossil fuel sources of power, but
Kimura expects the price to go down if products can be manufactured on
a larger scale. (CNET News.com, September
14, 2007)
Carbon Dioxide Did Not End The
Last Ice
Age, Study Says
"There has been this continual reference to the
correspondence between CO2 and climate change as reflected in ice core
records as justification for the role of CO2 in climate change," said
USC geologist Lowell Stott, lead author of the study, slated for
advance online publication Sept. 27 in Science Express. "You can no
longer argue that CO2 alone caused the end of the ice ages." The study
does not question the fact that CO2 plays a key role in climate. The
best estimate from other studies of when CO2 began to rise is no
earlier than 18,000 years ago. Yet this study shows that the deep sea,
which reflects oceanic temperature trends, started warming about 19,000
years ago. "What this means is that a lot of energy went into the ocean
long before the rise in atmospheric CO2," Stott said. But where did
this energy come from" Evidence pointed southward. Water's salinity and
temperature are properties that can be used to trace its origin -- and
the warming deep water appeared to come from the Antarctic Ocean, the
scientists wrote. This water then was transported northward over 1,000
years via well-known deep-sea currents, a conclusion supported by
carbon-dating evidence. In addition, the researchers noted that
deep-sea temperature increases coincided with the retreat of Antarctic
sea ice, both occurring 19,000 years ago, before the northern
hemisphere's ice retreat began. (Science Daily, October 2, 2007)
Discovery Channel Young Scientist Challenge
The fallow fields of sugar cane that still cover much of the Big Island
are, to most people, a reminder of the past. To Douglas Haswell, 14, the
stalks could be a symbol of the future. The Hilo High School freshman
is one of 40 finalists in the Discovery Channel Young Scientist
Challenge. Haswell's presentation, on the potential of converting
bananas and sugar cane to bioethanol, was his ticket to a weeklong,
all-expenses-paid trip later this month to Washington, D.C. He has a
big act to follow. In 2006, Waiakea High student Nolan Kamitaki was
named America's Top Young Scientist of the Year, taking home a $20,000
scholarship. "Everybody can make their own ethanol, and you don't need
to buy it from a company," Haswell said. "If everybody made their own,
they would be independent." (Hawaii Tribune-Herald, October 4, 2007)
GM Dangers of the UC Berkeley-BP Research
Deal on Biofuels
There is nothing green about the UC Berkeley-British Petroleum deal;
green washing would be a more accurate description of what is in the
works. The heart of the proposed research involves genetically
engineering microbes to break down the cell walls of plants to produce
fuel. Microbes are the foundation of the Earth’s ecosystem.
What impact would genetically altering them and releasing them into the
environment, where they can take hold and reproduce, have on that
system? Would we be trading one environmental problem (global warming)
for another set of environmental problems? Wouldn’t we be ending our
dependency on one limited resource (oil) only to be tapping into other
limited resources (i.e. land, nutrients, and water to grow plants for
biomass)?
If these genetically altered microbes were to make their way into the
food supply, what impact would they have on human health? It’s
naïve to believe that British Petroleum’s large investment
wouldn’t influence Berkeley scientists’ ability to ask and answer these
questions (and more) honestly, in the same way that large corporate
donations influence our politicians and lead them to turn their backs
on the general public and favor narrow private interests
instead. By Erica Martenson (Indybay.org, October 4,
2007)
Protesters marched outside a biofuels conference held at the Bancroft
Hotel yesterday in opposition to the $500 million research partnership
between the campus [University of California, Berkeley] and
energy company BP. Faculty, student and community members
gathered to voice their concerns over the deal, which campus officials
said will likely be finalized within the next two weeks. “We are
deeply concerned about private interest controlling our university,”
said senior Severine von Tscharner Fleming, a conservation and resource
studies major. “Biofuel research proposed by BP does not promote
long-term sustainability.” (Daily Cal, October 5, 2007)
Can 'fertilising' the ocean combat climate
change?
RUSS GEORGE calls it a "voyage of recovery". His opponents call it
blatant pollution. Only time will tell who is right. In May this year,
350 miles north-west of the Galapagos Islands, George's company,
Planktos, based in Foster City, California, began the first of six
large-scale trials to release more than 50 tonnes of finely ground
haematite into the ocean. The company aims to show that fertilisation
with iron can safely boost levels of phytoplankton - single-celled
photosynthetic organisms responsible for half of the carbon fixation on
Earth. More of such plankton, Planktos reasons, means the ability to
trap more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, which will help combat
global warming.
Not everyone is convinced. The Charles Darwin Foundation on the
Galapagos Islands calls the project "an unwelcome visitor" and says it
is "alarmed... because of the unknown effects it could have on marine
life". So is this, and other projects like it, a real environmental fix
or an eco-disaster in waiting?
Iron seeding is based on the well-accepted idea that plankton growth in
the equatorial Pacific, the Southern Ocean and the north Pacific is
restricted by low levels of iron. The concept was first proposed in
1990 by John Martin, then director of the Moss Landing Marine
Laboratories in California. Since then, 12 international experiments in
these waters have shown that adding iron can cause plankton to bloom,
increasing the amount of CO2 drawn into the surface of the ocean. By
contrast, in sub-tropical ocean regions such as the waters off
Australia, nitrogen, rather than iron, is the main brake on plankton
growth. Researchers there are experimenting with seeding the ocean with
nitrogenous fertiliser. (New Scientist, September 30, 2007)
Hurricanes & Hawaii
Who knew Hawaii was protected from the eastern Pacific hurricane
factory by a wall of cold water just east of the island chain? No one
thought to check if this ‘cold wall’ would survive global warming…until
two ecologists from the Fish & Wildlife Service started working
with climate models.
Reporting on a remarkable collaboration between island conservationists
and climate modelers, Teresa Dawson zeros in on how and why Hawaii’s
storm and rain patterns are destined to change…perhaps dramatically
(via Environment Hawaii). Says Stephen Miller, co-author of a recent
presentation at the HI Conservation Alliance conference, “We were, at
every step in the process, staggered at what we were seeing.” Miller’s
report focused on sea surface temperature, the potential for storm
generation, as well as changing patterns of precipitation. According to
Miller, most storms that hit Hawaii originate in the eastern Pacific
storm basin and tend to dissipate when they hit cooler waters (about 26
degrees C) east of the island chain. When Hawai`i does get hit, it’s
usually because it slipped around that wall of colder water.
Meanwhile, the IPCC has stated that the sea surface temperature around
Hawaii will increase 1.5 degrees C at a minimum, and Miller finds that
the number of storms reaching Hawaii doubled with only a 0.3 to 0.4
degrees C change in sea surface temperature. According to Miller,
climate change impacts on cloud formation and rainfall also imperil
Hawaii’s ecosystems. As the air temperature at sea level increases, the
air mass will have to rise to a higher elevation in order to cool to
the point that it forms clouds. Miller predicts that a temperature
increase of 1.5 degrees C would push the cloud base up from 600 meters
to about 831 meters. Thus, says Miller, “the mountain area that
produces rain will be reduced,” and less rain in a warmer environment
could increase the evapotranspiration rate, as well.” (Ken Stokes,
Kauaian.net, September 29th, 2007)
Ethanol, schmethanol (The Economist print edition, Sep 27th 2007)
Everyone seems to think that ethanol is a good way to make cars
greener. Everyone is wrong
SOMETIMES you do things simply because you know how to. People have
known how to make ethanol since the dawn of civilisation, if not
before. Take some sugary liquid. Add yeast. Wait. They have also known
for a thousand years how to get that ethanol out of the formerly sugary
liquid and into a more or less pure form. You heat it up, catch the
vapour that emanates, and cool that vapour down until it liquefies.
The result burns. And when Henry Ford was experimenting with car
engines a century ago, he tried ethanol out as a fuel. But he rejected
it—and for good reason. The amount of heat you get from burning a litre
of ethanol is a third less than that from a litre of petrol. What is
more, it absorbs water from the atmosphere. Unless it is mixed with
some other fuel, such as petrol, the result is corrosion that can wreck
an engine's seals in a couple of years. So why is ethanol suddenly back
in fashion? That is the question many biotechnologists in America have
recently asked themselves.
The obvious answer is that, being derived from plants, ethanol is
“green”. The carbon dioxide produced by burning it was recently in the
atmosphere. Putting that CO2 back into the air can therefore have no
adverse effect on the climate. But although that is true, the real
reason ethanol has become the preferred green substitute for petrol is
that people know how to make it—that, and the subsidies now available
to America's maize farmers to produce the necessary feedstock. Yet such
things do not stop ethanol from being a lousy fuel. To solve that, the
biotechnologists argue, you need to make a better fuel that is equally
green. Which is what they are trying to do.
Designer petrol
The first step on the road has been
butanol. This is also a type of
alcohol that can be made by fermenting sugar (though the fermentation
is done by a species of bacterium rather than by yeast), and it has
some advantages over ethanol. It has more carbon atoms in its molecules
(four, instead of two), which means more energy per litre—though it is
still only 85% as rich as petrol. It also has a lower tendency to
absorb water from the atmosphere.
A joint venture between DuPont, a large American chemical company, and
BP, a British energy firm, has worked out how to industrialise the
process of making biobutanol, as the chemical is commonly known when it
is the product of fermentation. Although BP plans to start selling the
stuff in the next few weeks (mixed with petrol, to start with), the
truth is that butanol is not all that much better than ethanol. The
interesting activity is elsewhere.
One route might be to go for yet-larger (and thus energy-richer)
alcohol molecules. Any simple alcohol is composed of a number of carbon
and hydrogen atoms (like a hydrocarbon such as petrol) together with a
single oxygen atom. In practice, this game of topping up the carbon
content to make a better fuel stops with octanol (eight carbon atoms)
as anything bigger tends to freeze at temperatures that might be
encountered in winter. But living things are familiar with alcohols.
Their enzymes are geared up to cope with them. This makes the
biotechnologists' task that much easier.
The idea of engineering enzymes to make
octanol was what first brought
Codexis, a small biotechnology firm based in Redwood City, California,
into the field. Codexis's technology works with pharmaceutical
precision—indeed, one of its main commercial products is the enzyme
system for making the chemical precursor to Lipitor, a
cholesterol-lowering drug that is marketed by Pfizer. Codexis controls
most of the important patents for what is known as molecular evolution.
This designs enzymes in the way that normal evolution designs
organisms. It creates lots of variations on a theme, throws away the
ones it does not want, and shuffles the rest in a process akin to sex.
It then repeats the process on the survivors until something useful
emerges—though, unlike natural evolution, there is a bit of intelligent
design in the process, too. The result, according to Codexis's boss,
Alan Shaw, is enzymes that can perform chemical transformations unknown
in nature.
Dr Shaw, however, is no longer so interested in octanol as a biofuel.
Like two other, nearby firms, he is now focusing Codexis's attention on
molecules even more chemically similar to petrol. The twist that
Codexis brings is that unlike petrol, of which each batch from the
refinery is chemically different from the others (because the crude oil
from which it is derived is an arbitrary mixture of hydrocarbon
molecules), biopetrol could be turned out exactly the same, again and
again, and thus designed to have the optimal mixture of properties
required of a motor fuel.
Exactly which molecules Codexis is most
interested in these days, Dr
Shaw is not yet willing to say. But Amyris Biotechnologies, which is
also based in California, in Emeryville, and which also started by
dabbling in drugs (in its case an antimalarial medicine called
artemisinin), is slightly more forthcoming. Under the guidance of its
founder Jay Keasling, it has been working on a type of isoprenoid (a
class of chemicals that include rubber).
Unlike Codexis, which deals in purified enzymes, Amyris employs a
technique called synthetic biology, which turns living organisms into
chemical reactors by assembling novel biochemical pathways within them.
Dr Keasling and his colleagues scour the world for suitable enzymes,
tweak them to make them work better, then sew the genes for the tweaked
enzymes into a bacterium that thus turns out the desired product. That
was how they produced artemisinin, which is also an isoprenoid.
Isoprenoids have the advantage that, like alcohols, they are part of
the natural biochemistry of many organisms. Enzymes to handle them are
thus easy to come by. They have the additional advantage that some are
pure hydrocarbons, like petrol. With a little judicious searching,
Amyris thinks it has come up with isoprenoids that have the right
characteristics to substitute for petrol.
The third Californian firm in the business, LS9 of San Carlos, is
cutting to the chase. If petrol is what is wanted, petrol is what will
be delivered. And diesel, too, although in this case the product is
actually biodiesel, which is in some ways superior to the
petroleum-based stuff.
LS9 also uses synthetic biology, but it
has concentrated on controlling
the pathways that make fatty acids. Like alcohols, fatty acids are
molecules that have lots of hydrogen and carbon atoms, and a small
amount of oxygen (in their case two oxygen atoms, rather than one).
Plant oils consist of fatty acids combined with glycerol—and these
fatty acids (for example, those from palm oil) are the main raw
material for the biodiesel already sold today.
LS9 has used its technology to turn microbes into factories for fatty
acids containing between eight and 20 carbon atoms—the optimal number
for biodiesel. But it also plans to make what it calls “biocrude”. In
this case the fatty acids would have 18-30 carbon atoms, and the final
stage of the synthetic pathway would clip off the oxygen atoms to
create pure hydrocarbons. This biocrude could be fed directly into
existing oil refineries, without any need to modify them.
These firms, however, have one other competitor. His name is Craig
Venter. Dr Venter, a veteran of biotechnological scraps ranging from
gene patenting to the private human-genome project, has been interested
in bioenergy for a long time. To start with, it was hydrogen that
caught his eye, then methane—both of which are natural bacterial
products. But now that eye is shifting towards liquid fuels. His
company, modestly named Synthetic Genomics (and based, unlike the
others, on the east side of America, in Rockville, Maryland), is
reluctant to discuss details, but Dr Venter, too, is taken with the
pharmaceutical analogy. Indeed, he goes as far as to posit the idea of
clinical trials for biofuels—presumably pitting one against another,
perhaps with petroleum-based products acting as the control, and
without the drivers knowing which was which.
Whether biofuels will ever be competitive
with fossil fuels remains to
be seen. That will depend on a mixture of economics and politics. But
the political rush to back ethanol, just because it is green and people
have heard of it, is a mistake. Let a thousand flowers bloom, and see
which one wins Dr Venter's Grand Prix.
Upcoming Events
Noelani Kalipi,
director of government and community relations for UPC Hawai‘i Wind Partners,
will brief the Governor’s Molokai Community Advisory Council on Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 3:00
p.m. at the Kulana O‘iwi, DHHL / OHA Conference Room, 600
Maunaloa Highway in Kaunakakai on the company’s wind farm proposal for
Molokai as part of an effort to decrease Hawai‘i’s reliance on fossil
fuels by increasing wind energy generation. The public is
invited. The members of the Governor’s
Molokai Community Advisory Council are Robert Granger, Janice
Kalanihuia, Jersula Manaba, Marlene Purdy and Weldon Wichman.
(The Molokai Dispatch, October 5, 2007)
Potential for Ethanol
Production in Hawaii Scott Q. Turn, Associate Researcher,
Hawaii Natural Energy Institute Tuesday, October 16, 2007, 3:15 – 4:15 PM,
POST 723
Microbiology and
Methane Hydrates Brandon Yoza, Assistant Researcher,
Hawaii Natural Energy Institute. Tuesday, October 23, 2007, 3:15 – 4:15 PM, POST 723
The Hawaii Science
& Technology Council, 2nd Friday. Sopogy; Honolulu
SeaWater Air Conditioning; Imperium Renewables; Dr. David L. Bodde,
Senior Fellow and Professor, Arthur M. Spiro Center for Entrepreneurial
Leadership, Clemson University. The Pacific Club, Friday, October 12, 7:30am-9:30am
Public
Relations Society of America: Hawaii Chapter. Advancing the
Communications Professional
Oct.
12, 2007. 8:00 AM - 1:30 PM.
Members $65, Non-Members $85.
WEB: Steve Petranik (Honolulu Advertiser); Roxanne Darling (Bare Feet
Studios); Chris Kanemura (Entheos Interactive) Employee
Engagement: Mike Gonsalves (HECO); Brandt Farias (First
Hawaiian Bank); Doreen Griffith (Grant Thornton) Cultural/Community
Engagement: Robbie Alm (HECO); Dawn Chang
(Ku'iwalu Consulting)
Intra-Governmental
Wheeling
The Public Utilities Commission (PUC; Commission) has initiated a
proceeding to investigate the feasibility of intra-governmental
wheeling in Hawaii (renting the grid to ship electricity from a
renewable energy producer to governmental facilities).
Definitions
Wheeling "is the movement of electricity, owned by a power supplier and
sold to a retail consumer, over transmission and distribution lines
owned by neither one." A fee is charged by the owners of the lines for
letting others use them. (www.cepc.net/rewhl.htm)
Wheeling is defined as ''the process of transmitting electric power
from a seller's point of generation across a third-party-owned
transmission and distribution system to the seller's retail customer.''
(Hawaii PUC)
Intragovernmental Wheeling means that the producer of the energy is a
consortium or partnership between renewable energy producer(s) and
government(s) and the buyer is a governmental agency.
General
Background
The Hawaii PUC opened a docket in 1996 to examine competition within
the Hawaii electric utility industry (Docket No. 96-0493). Many of the
issues in that docket morphed into the Distributed Generation docket
the PUC opened in 2003 (Docket No. 03-0371). The Commission ruled in
the DG docket that the utility can do DG at utility substations, but
customer-sited DG should be installed by third parties. Life of the
Land was a party in dockets 96-0493 and 03-03671 where, among other
things, we advocated for wheeling.
Wheeling
Docket:
Procedural Background
This docket was opened on June 29, 2007 (Order No. 23530) which
established the issues in the docket. On August 28, 2007 the commission
issued Stipulated Protective Order No. 23616. The parties and
participants have until October 26, 2007 to file a Stipulated
Prehearing Order.
The
Issues
1. Identifying what impact, if any, intra-governmental wheeling will
have on Hawaii's electric industry;
2. Addressing interconnection matters;
3. Identifying the costs to utilities of implementing
intra-governmental wheeling;
4. Identifying any rate design and cost allocation issues associated
with intra-governmental wheeling;
5. Considering the financial cost and impact of intra-governmental
wheeling on non-wheeling customers of a utility, i.e., an uncompensated
use of the utility system;
6. Identifying any power back-up issues; and
7. Addressing how rates for intra-governmental wheeling would be set.
The
Parties (15)
Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO)
Maui Electric Company (MECO)
Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO)
Kauai Island Utility Coop (KIUC)
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT)
Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs - Division of Consumer
Advocacy (DCA)
Hawai`i County
Maui County
Kaua`i County
City & County of Honolulu
The Department of the Navy on behalf of the United States Department of
Defense (DoD)
Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance (HREA)
Life of the Land (LOL)
Castle & Cooke Resorts LLC (Castle)
Lanai Sustainability Research LLC (LSR)
The
Participants (3)
RealGreen Power LLC (RealGreen)
SunEdison LLC (SunEdison)
Puna Geothermal Ventures (PGV)
Sharing
the pain of oil
price increases
Currently 100 percent of fuel price fluctuations are automatically
passed directly onto the consumer via the Energy Cost Adjustment Clause
(ECAC), giving the utility little incentive to switch to fuels with low
price volatility (i.e., renewable energy).
State law was amended in 2006 to require the Public Utilities
Commission to decide the proper allocation between ratepayers and the
utilities for fuel volatility. Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS)
§269-16(g): ''Any automatic fuel rate adjustment clause requested
by a public utility in an application filed with the commission shall
be designed, as determined in the commission's discretion, to: (1)
Fairly share the risk of fuel cost changes between the public utility
and its customers''
The issue is currently being debated between parties in the Hawaiian
Electric Company (HECO) rate case. The fair allocation principle seems
to be in trouble:
''On September 6, 2007, HECO, the Consumer Advocate and the Department
of Defense (DOD) (the parties) executed and filed an agreement on most
of the issues in HECO's 2007 test year rate case proceeding. The
agreement is subject to approval by the Public Utilities Commission of
the State of Hawaii (PUC), which may accept or reject the agreement in
part or in full. ... In the settlement agreement, the parties agreed
that the ECAC should continue in its present form for purposes of an
interim rate increase and stated that they are continuing discussions
with respect to the final design of the ECAC to be proposed for
approval in the final decision and order.'' (''Entry into a Material
Definitive Agreement'', HECO Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities
and Exchange Commission, September 12, 2007)
BlueEarth
Maui Biodiesel
LLC
Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) §343-1 Findings and purpose. The
legislature finds that the quality of humanity’s environment is
critical to humanity’s well being ... It is the purpose of this chapter
to establish a system of environmental review which will ensure that
environmental concerns are given appropriate consideration in decision
making along with economic and technical considerations.
Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) §343-5 Applicability and
requirements. (a) Except as otherwise provided, an environmental
assessment shall be required for actions that ... (9) Propose any ...
(D) Oil refinery
Act 55, 2004 (HB1294 SD1 CD1) established that that under HRS
§343-5(a)(9)(D) an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) is required for an oil refinery.
BlueEarth Maui Biodiesel LLC is proposing the largest biodiesel
refinery in the Unites States (120M gal/year), fueled by one of the
world's dirtiest fuel -- palm oil. Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO)
would be part owner. Although HECO has never profited from fuel, HECO
would collect half the profit and give it to a third party to promote
local biofuels. The state approved the issuance of $59M in Special
Purpose Revenue Bonds (SPRBs) for the biorefinery, subject to the
Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT)
signing off on the sustainability of the fuel. BlueEarth has been
arguing that they are not building a massive biorefinery and should be
exempt from completing an Environmental Impact Statement.
Life of the Land letter to DBEDT Director Ted Liu (August 24, 2007):
The provision was adopted in committee on April 3, 2003. Fifty-four
weeks later, on April 19, 2004, the bill passed final reading in both
houses without any opposition: 42-0 (House) 24-0 (Senate). During the
final days of the Legislative session, on May 5, 2004, the Governor
signed the bill into law.
''The environmental group Life of the Land says an EIS is required by a
2004 state law, and on Monday state Sen. J. Kalani English, who wrote
the amendment, said that’s correct.'' (Maui News, August 21, 2007)
There has been some confusion about whether the Final EIS for the Waena
Power Generating Facility covers the proposed BlueEarth bio-refinery.
The existing Final EIS (1997) occurred before the Land Use Commission,
while the subsequent rezoning (2000) occurred at the county level. The
Final EIS explicitly stated the exact components of four 58-MW
generators. The Final EIS could not have anticipated that Maui County
would require alternative energy at the site.
The Final EIS explicitly analyzed non-fossil fuel alternatives and
dismissed them. It explicitly rejected ethanol and did not discuss
biodiesel. Three years later, alternative energy was raised: ''J.
Kalani English, the Council's Land Use Committee chairman, said the
zoning bill took the middle path by allowing the utility to use only
32.5 of its 65.7 acres of the Waena land for oil-fired energy. The
remaining acreage has been designated for alternative energy use.''
On August, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled unanimously in the Superferry
case that ''The Hawai`i Department's determination that improvements to
the Kahului Harbor, on the Island of Maui, are exempt from the
requirements of Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) chapter 343 (Supp. 2004)
was erroneous as a matter of law''
DBEDT is required under the law to certify whether HECO's Palm Oil
Policy is sustainable, as defined partially by law.
DBEDT might choose to evaluate whether HECO's Palm Oil Policy is
sustainable without first determining what the environmental impacts
are. It would be simpler if DBEDT required an EIS and then used that
information to determine whether HECO's policy meets the law.
Life of the Land letter to DBEDT Director Ted Liu (September 6, 2007)
''We are not asserting that that a DBEDT discretionary decision on
authorizing the Department of Budget and Finance (B&F) to authorize
the issuance of Special Purpose Revenue Bonds (SPRBs) triggers the need
for an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement
(EIS).
It may, but that wasn't our point. The law is clear: (1) an EA or EIS
must be done since an oil refinery is being proposed; and (2) DBEDT
must evaluate whether the HECO/NRDC proposal is sustainable. It seems
reasonable that the environmental review be done before the DBEDT
ruling since: (a) the EA / EIS document must be prepared at the
earliest reasonable time; and (b) DBEDT should use the document to
answer the question before them.''
Maui
County Council
(September 4, 2007)
Life of the Land Testimony to the Maui Council Planning Committee
(September 4, 2007) re PC-8 BlueEarth Maui Biodiesel ''Palm Oil
Biodiesel is worse than burning coal or oil in electric generators.
From an environmental, health, cultural, climatic or economic analysis,
it makes absolutely no sense to convert from importing petroleum to
importing palm oil. ...
'The most destructive crop on earth is no solution to the energy
crisis' (George Monbiot, The Guardian, December 6, 2005) ''By promoting
biodiesel as a substitute, we have missed the fact that it is worse
than the fossil-fuel burning it replaces ... Before I go any further, I
should make it clear that turning used chip fat into motor fuel is a
good thing. ... The biodiesel industry has accidentally invented the
world's most carbon-intensive fuel. ... In terms of its impact on both
the local and global environments, palm biodiesel is more destructive
than crude oil from Nigeria.''
Nelson Mandela presented George Monbiot with a United Nations Global
500 Award for outstanding environmental achievement (1995). Monbiot has
held visiting fellowships or professorships at the universities of
Oxford (environmental policy), Bristol (philosophy), Keele (politics)
and East London (environmental science). He has also won the Lloyds
National Screenwriting Prize for his screenplay The Norwegian, a Sony
Award for radio production, the Sir Peter Kent Award and the OneWorld
National Press Award. In summer 2007 he was awarded an honorary
doctorate by the University of Essex and an honorary fellowship by
Cardiff University. ...
State and county laws have both a ''letter of the law'' and a ''spirit
of the law''. In terms of the latter, the state legislature passed a
bill in 2004 that sought to close the loopholes that enabled gigantic
projects from escaping environmental review. In addition to new classes
of facilities (such as oil refineries), the law also focused on private
facilities on private lands.
These provision aimed to prevent another occurrence whereby the Hamakua
Energy Partners -- a naphtha-fueled 60 megawatt (MW) combined cycle
power plant built along the shore north of Honoka`a on Hawai`i Island,
did not trigger Chapter 343.
Now BlueEarth is using semantics to argue that the comprehensive
overhaul of the state EIS law was not intended to require an EIS for
the largest biodiesel refinery in the United States burning one of the
most climatically destructive fuels on the planet. BlueEarth has
recently been promoting the idea that they are not building a refinery
but a transesterification facility.
Not only is there argument faulty (transesterification is one step
within a biodiesel refinery), but it is contradicted in BlueEarth's
testimony and in Hawaiian Electric Industries filings with the U..S.
Securities and Exchange Commission.
Maui Mayor Endorses BlueEarth Maui Biofuels LLC (February 17, 2007) “We
welcome BlueEarth Biofuels commitment to build a plant here and I
commend Maui Electric Company and Hawaiian Electric Company’s
willingness to work with them,'' said Mayor Tavares. ''In my inaugural
address, I said that we must diversify our economy through sustainable
technologies and agriculture. This is a wonderful step toward this
end.” (County of Maui News Release)
Imperium
Renewables LLC
Life of the Land Testimony to the Honolulu City Council Committee on
Zoning re Resolution 07-252 - Special Management Area Permit (SMP) to
construct and operate a Biodiesel Production Facility (2007/SMA-35)
Applicant: Imperium (September 4, 2007) ''According to documents filed
with the United Stated Securities and Exchange Commission, Imperium
Renewable Hawaii LLC wants to import palm oil from Malaysia.
Palm Oil Biodiesel is worse than burning coal or oil in electric
generators. From an environmental, health, cultural, climatic or
economic analysis, it makes absolutely no sense to convert from
importing petroleum to importing palm oil. Imperium Renewable LLC has
palm oil contracts with companies that have indefensible practices
involving cultural genocide, environmental destruction and greenhouse
gas emissions.''
The Honolulu City Council approved the Shoreline Management Permit.
Hawaii
Electric Light
Company (HELCO): Integrated Resource Plan (2007-2026)
During the early part of the docket, parties file questions to other
parties.
Life of the Land's Information Requests (Discovery) to the Division of
Consumer Advocacy, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs re
Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO) Integrated Resource Planning
(IRP) (PUC Docket 2004-0046) (August 24, 2007)
What is the Consumer Advocate's policy re biofuel use for electricity
generation ... Please provide a detailed analysis of how the Consumer
Advocate came up with its biofuel policy: (a) who were the decision
makers; (b) What documents did they rely on; (c) Who influenced their
decision; (d) Please provide a timeline listing the significant dates
and meetings and staff whereby the Consumer Advocate developed its
biofuel policy.
Please provide a list of all meetings the Consumer Advocate has
attended re biofuels with (a) NRDC; (b) BlueEarth; (c) all others.
Please list all documents the Consumer Advocate possesses, reviewed,
and/or analyzed re biofuels. Please list the biofuels expertise of each
Consumer Advocate staff member.
Please state who within the Consumer Advocate made the decision to
advocate for biofuels.
Please provide any documentation on whether the Consumer Advocate met
with consumers about supporting biofuels
Please list each meeting, communication and correspondence the Consumer
Advocate held with the utilities re biofuels.
Please list each meeting, communication and correspondence the Consumer
Advocate held with the Executive Branch re biofuels.
Please list each meeting, communication and or correspondence the
Consumer Advocate held with Biofuel Advocates re biofuels.
Please list each meeting, communication and or correspondence the
Consumer Advocate held with Utilities re biofuels.
Please list each meeting, communication and or correspondence the
Consumer Advocate held with members of the Utility Trade Groups re
biofuels.
Please list each meeting, communication and or correspondence the
Consumer Advocate held with members of the Agricultural Trade Groups re
biofuels
Please list the biofuel conferences attended by the Consumer Advocate.
Who will the Consumer Advocate employ re biofuel testimony.
What is meant by life cycle assessment?
What should be included and excluded in life cycle analysis of biofuels.
Should biofuels be assumed to have a zero climate impact? Please
elaborate.
Has a Hawaii utility ever profited from fuel?
Is the Consumer Advocate concerned about (a) ratepayer impacts; (b)
taxpayer impacts; (c) externalities?
What are the environmental, social, political and economic impacts
(positive and negative) associated with biofuels.
How does the Consumer Advocate define agrofuels?
When did the Consumer Advocate first inform HECO of its biofuel policy?
Congressman
Neil
Abercrombie addressed the 4th Annual Ocean Energy Conference
(Turtle
Bay, August 22, 2007)
''The Canadians are drilling for natural gas on the Great Lakes ... and
WE CAN'T Do It on our side?!.''
He added ''We have enough coal for 200 years ... we need to take coal
and turn it into liquid energy.'' He pointed out how effective the NRA
is, that they are always at Capitol Hill, always lobbying, and they are
effective.
Neil said he could talk against them because they didn't give him any
money. He said if the ocean people want to be effective they must have
a huge presence at Capitol Hill, and continually write letters to the
editors and viewpoints promoting their position. He stressed money,
money and money.
Public
Utilities
Commission (PUC) re Public Participation
The public has 20 days to file a Motion to Intervene after a new docket
is opened. However, in a ruling on our Motion to Intervene in the Maui
Electric Company (MECO) Integrated Resource Plan 2027-2026, the
Commission ruled that public notice of new dockets do not have to be
posted (a) at the Commission office; (b) on the Consumer Advocate’s web
site; (c) on the web.
Rather, one notice buried in the classified section of a state and a
county newspaper is sufficient.
MECO had opposed our intervention since we just wanted to discuss
biofuels and climate change. The PUC has agreed to deny us being a
party.
HECO/NRDC
Sustainable
Palm Oil Policies.
Draft Proposal (June 2007): Requires palm oil companies to obey 6 of 39
RSPO principles and criteria and are working towards achieving the
other 33. Working towards banning child labor, working towards ''free
and prior informed consent on indigenous communities''
Public Meetings: Oahu (June 27), Hilo (June 28), Kona (June 29), Maui
(July 2)
Final Proposal (August 2007): Requires palm oil companies to obey 39 of
39 RSPO principles and criteria
Wheeling
(Renting the
Electric Transmission Grid)
The Public Utilities Commission has opened a docket on
Intra-governmental Wheeling, that is, the ability of a renewable energy
company hooking up with a governmental agency to produce renewable
energy in one location, rent a transmission line from the utility, and
ship it to governmental facilities.
This will increase the use of renewable energy while protecting
ratepayers, since any possible cross-subsidy would be between
ratepayers and the government, that is, any net financial gain would go
to the government or the ratepayers instead of a private company.In
addition, wheeling would mean that locals would need to be hired to
build and operate the facilities, less money would be exported for oil,
and the economy would benefit from the added infusion of cash investing
in these renewable energy systems.
The Public Utilities Commission invited entities to become parties in
the docket. About 18 entities want to be involved: all four counties,
DBEDT, DCCA, the US military, several renewable energy companies, and
Life of the Land.HECO protested against the inclusion of renewable
energy parties. HECO wrote motions against the renewable energy
companies from being permitted party status. HECO did not notify
others, such as Life of the Land, that they had filed these motions.
We learned about them when these renewable energy companies informed
all 18 possible intervenors about this activity.Now the Public
Utilities Commission has approved Order 23616, dated August 28, 2007
(proposed by the Consumer Advocate and the utilities) which limits
public discussion on some key issues.
Like HECO, the PUC did not notify the counties, the military and other
potential parties about the Order. Thus the sub-docket is moving
forward.
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