Linda Rosehill could not have been more emphatic: The Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) is not interested in buying electricity from Pacific Light and Power (PLP), its partner, Palo Alto-based Orenco Hydropower, or its slated power purchaser, the Kekaha Agriculture Association (KAA).<\/p>\n
At the state Agribusiness Development Corporation\u2019s meeting on March 15, representatives of PLP and Orenco suggested that KIUC would buy excess power generated by PLP\u2019s proposed hydropower plants and sold to the KAA. They also suggested that KIUC would assist them in acquiring cheap financing for their hydropower generators, which would use water from irrigation ditches on the ADC\u2019s Kekaha lands, on leeward Kaua`i.<\/p>\n
For the past year, PLP had been in head-to-head competition with KIUC over the use of those ditches. PLP has a lease with the ADC for lands in Kekaha and an agreement to sell power to the KAA, which manages the irrigation infrastructure for the ADC; KIUC does not. Even so, KIUC applied to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for a permit, hoping to gain a priority position over PLP. But a decision earlier this year by FERC to let the state settle the matter has cast a new light on the process. PLP, for one, has taken it as an opportunity to seek collaboration.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe solution is an effective, low-cost project,\u201d Orenco\u2019s Carl Spetzler told the ADC. \u201cKIUC brings a lot to the party. We need the time and the runway to get that accomplished. So far it\u2019s been direct competition with KIUC. … We have to get KIUC to the table on this.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given the history, some ADC board members remained skeptical. ADC board member Mary Alice Evans, deputy director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, asked why PLP\u2019s project would be cheaper than KIUC\u2019s. Spetzler responded that KIUC is using a hydropower developer who \u201chasn\u2019t done this before\u201d and that his company can get the best equipment.<\/p>\n
Even if KAA cannot negotiate a new power purchase agreement with KIUC, PLP\u2019s project would still go forward, PLP director Palo Luckett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would assume a competitive posture before the PUC [public utilities commission],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The utility\u2019s Rosehill testified that it had already informed PLP that it is not interested in negotiating a new agreement with KAA to buy the excess power generated by PLP\u2019s hydros. (KIUC already has such an agreement with the co-op to buy power from existing hydropower plants on ADC\u2019s property.) KIUC still intends to pursue its own hydropower project, she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have a team with expertise. … I want to be clear: It\u2019s not our intent to enter into a power purchase agreement with PLP or Orenco,\u201d she said. \u201cWe are a little perturbed that representations are being made that negotiations are ongoing.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did, however, state that KIUC is \u201cready to accommodate KAA\u2019s needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
ADC board member David Rietow reminded the board that promoting agriculture is the ADC\u2019s primary role.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the ways we help our tenants is to reduce operating costs,\u201d and that includes enclosing ditches, he said.<\/p>\n
KAA member Landis Ignacio echoed Rietow\u2019s remarks and noted that PLP\u2019s project — which includes enclosing ditches, growing biofuels, and building a biodigester to manage animal waste — is, first and foremost, an irrigation project and that PLP is also an agricultural tenant. The hydropower component merely makes the infrastructure improvements more affordable, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we reduce our water needs, we can restore stream flows … and reduce discharge off the property,\u201d Ignacio said.<\/p>\n
It will cost $20 million to install a pressurized irrigation system at Kekaha, he continued. \u201cHydropower allows us to capture some revenue. This project is so desperately needed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Ignacio added that the ADC rejected a hydropower proposal from KIUC in 2010 because it didn\u2019t benefit agriculture.<\/p>\n
A No-Show<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
While the utility and PLP continue to compete for ADC resources, it appears that biofuels company Pacific West Energy, LLC, has dropped out of the running. Last year, after Pac West objected to a proposal to award PLP all of the ADC\u2019s available lands in Kekaha, the ADC decided to consider leasing 750 acres to Pac West. Recent changes in the location of Pac West\u2019s 20 megawatt biomass plant and feedstock sources, however, caused KIUC to rethink its agreement to purchase power from the company. At the ADC\u2019s March 15 meeting, no one from Pac West attended, and ADC executive director James Nakatani noted that the company had not responded to his request for a status update.<\/p>\n
***<\/b><\/p>\n
ADC Supports Concept<\/b><\/p>\n
Of Landfill at Kalepa<\/b><\/p>\n
After searching for more than a decade for a new landfill site, the county of Kaua`i appears to have settled on roughly 200 acres in Kalepa controlled by the the state Agribusiness Development Corporation (ADC). But it\u2019s far from a done deal.<\/p>\n
The ADC has not consented to have the landfill on its property, but its members and staff have negotiated an informal agreement: the county may site a landfill at Kalepa if it also builds a pipeline that will provide pressurized water to the ADC\u2019s surrounding 6,500 acres.<\/p>\n
On March 15, the ADC formally consented to a right-of-entry to allow the county to have access to the proposed landfill site and proceed with an environmental impact statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cSiting a landfill, as you can imagine, is no easy thing,\u201d county engineer Larry Dill told the ADC board at its meeting last month.<\/p>\n
Between 2001 and 2003, the county had identified eight potential sites, all on agricultural lands, but was unable to proceed with a preferred site in Kalepa because of community opposition and environmental justice issues (the site was in a low-income area that was already going to host a power plant). In 2009, the county had identified a potential site in Umi, but landowner Alexander & Baldwin, which farmed coffee on the land, refused to sell.<\/p>\n
Then in 2010, the county set its sights on lands in Kalepa owned by the ADC.<\/p>\n
During the ADC\u2019s meeting last month, board member Mary Alice Evans asked whether the county had any agricultural lands to exchange for the proposed landfill site.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe loss of 150 acres diminishes the ADC\u2019s opportunities,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Dill said the county does not have any lands to exchange and that it has not even explored the idea.<\/p>\n
Board member David Rietow then clarified that before many of the ADC\u2019s new members, including Evans, joined the board, he and other board members had met with the mayor and agreed that irrigation mitigation would make up for any loss of land or displacement of farmers.<\/p>\n
With pressurized water, \u201cthe agricultural land now has a higher and better use. Right now, it\u2019s too dry even for cattle. That was the logic [behind the agreement] and we\u2019re holding the county hostage to that pipeline,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The county is in the process of securing a consultant to conduct irrigation studies and provide engineering and cost estimates for the pipeline, Dill said.<\/p>\n
Should the ADC board consent to the landfill, the county expects it would take about eight years to complete construction. With vertical and lateral expansions, the current landfill in west Kaua`i could last another eight to ten years.<\/p>\n
Dill says a landfill at Kalepa would be the last one Kaua`i would ever need. It\u2019s anticipated lifetime is 271 years, effectively \u201cforever,\u201d he said, adding that the county aims to divert 70 percent of its waste by 2023.<\/p>\n
— Teresa Dawson<\/p>\n
Volume 22, Number 10 April 2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Linda Rosehill could not have been more emphatic: The Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) is not interested in buying electricity from Pacific Light and Power (PLP), its partner, Palo Alto-based Orenco Hydropower, or its slated power purchaser, the Kekaha Agriculture … Continued<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[43],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-april-2012"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/451\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/environment-hawaii.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}