Since 2009, customers of the Hawaiian Electric companies have been charged a Public Benefits Fee. Calculated as a percentage of usage, the fee pays a contractor to the state Public Utilities Commission who manages a program that is intended … Continued
Usually, when a state board or commission is asked to make a decision, its staff will prepare a background report. In the case of the Board of Land and Natural Resources, for example, the staff report can run to several … Continued
In researching the articles for this issue, Environment Hawai`i sought copies of contracts that the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism entered into with the Bank of New York Mellon, Renewable Finance, and Clean Power Finance. On February 24, … Continued
When cooking up its Green Energy Market Securitization (GEMS) program, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism seems to have followed the recipe for growing mushrooms. You know the one: keep them in the dark and feed them … … Continued
Keeping the Country Country: Last month, Ikaika Anderson, chair of the Honolulu City Council’s Zoning and Planning Committee, proposed gutting all references in the draft Ko`olau Loa Sustainable Communities Plan (KLSCP) to a new residential community in Malaekahana. In his … Continued
Cycle City: Honolulu’s King Street now has a dedicated bicycle lane, and, if all goes according to plan, it will soon have its own bikeshare program, financed through the Department of Health’s Healthy Hawai`i Initiative. Last month, the Chronic Disease Prevention … Continued
Scott Watson, builder of the “Pepe`ekeo Palace,” just won’t take “no” for an answer. Having twice tried, and twice failed, to get the Hawai`i County Windward Planning Commission to amend conditions of subdivision approval for the lot on which Watson … Continued
The Hanalei River boatyard operated by Mike Sheehan has for years been a thorn in the side of the Kaua`i County Planning Department, its Public Works Department, its Planning Commission, and environmental groups too numerous to count. But last month, … Continued
Posted 06/02/2014 Maui County’s operation of its Lahaina sewage treatment plant has been found to violate the federal Clean Water Act. U.S. District Judge Susan Oki Mollway issued a ruling on May 30 finding that the four injection wells used … Continued
Posted 04/24/2014 The long and acrimonious dispute over ownership of the Haleakala Trail has been decided. On April 23, a jury determined that the state of Hawai`i does indeed own the six-foot-wide trail extending from Makawao up to Haleakala crater. … Continued