When Gov. David Ige signed House Bill 957 into law, the Hawai‘i Green Infrastructure Authority was mandated to give an interest-free $46.4 million loan to the state Department of Education. The money is to pay for energy-efficiency improvements to public … Continued
Hu Honua Permit: The Public Utilities Commission has given the green light to a power purchase agreement between Hawaiian Electric and Hu Honua, the 30-megawatt power plant under construction some 10 miles north of Hilo that proposes to use trees … Continued
Pepe`ekeo Access Closed: On June 26, Steven Strauss, attorney for Scott Watson, informed the Hawai`i County Planning Department that his client intended to “permanently close” the temporary public shoreline access along his property in Pepe`ekeo, about 10 miles north of … Continued
The first session of the 2017 Legislature broke little new ground in terms of environmental law-making. About a dozen bills that nibbled at the edges of meaningful action made it across the finish line with the signature of Governor David … Continued
Over the last decade, Hawai`i County has approved Community Development Plans (CDPs) for most of the districts making up the Big Island. The Kona CDP was one of the first, adopted by the County Council in 2008, and resulted from … Continued
For `Aina Le`a, Inc., the prospect that it will be able to carry out its planned development on 1,000-plus acres in South Kohala is growing ever dimmer, with the company facing multiple foreclosure actions, potential downzoning of its property by … Continued
Lehua Rat Project: The Department of Land and Natural Resources has been given the green light to award a contract to Island Conservation of New Zealand for preparation of a plan to eradicate rats from Lehua Island, located a few … Continued
Hawai`i County, once one of the biggest cheerleaders for the development known as the Villages of `Aina Le`a, is over it. In a nine-page letter dated May 16, county planning director Michael Yee informed attorney Alan Okamoto that in light … Continued
The long-awaited settlement of a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the state Land Use Commission was signed in February. Lawyers from both the Attorney General’s office and the company that, for a while, proposed to develop the Villages of `Aina Le`a … Continued
Nearly a year after NextEra’s proposed takeover of Hawaiian Electric was voted down by the Public Utilities Commission, four of the renewable energy projects that were axed by Hawaiian Electric – at the behest of NextEra, some claim – have … Continued