The Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative has lost its \u201cpriority position\u201d to generate hydropower using irrigation systems and land in west Kaua`i managed by the state Agribusiness Development Corporation.<\/p>\n
Last month, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued an order dismissing the competing applications of KIUC and another company, Kekaha Ditch Hydro, LLC, for preliminary permits to study the feasibility of constructing a hydropower facility along the ADC\u2019s Kekaha Ditch.<\/p>\n
In its October 20 order, FERC stated that it was establishing \u201ca general policy of not issuing permits for projects\u201d in those cases where there is no mandatory federal jurisdiction and where there is the \u201cpotential to interfere with Hawai`i\u2019s state hydropower authorization process.\u201d<\/p>\n
William Tam, the deputy director of the Department of Land and Natural Resources for water issues, was pleased with the decision. \u201cIt\u2019s a good thing,\u201d he told Environment Hawai`i.<\/i> \u201cWe don\u2019t like stream decisions being made in Washington, D.C., where there\u2019s no expertise and local knowledge.\u201d<\/p>\n
Other applications are pending, he noted, but given FERC\u2019s latest order, the commissioners \u201cwill dismiss those as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
FERC has already granted two applications for hydropower in East Kaua`i. \u201cI don\u2019t think they\u2019re going to revisit those,\u201d Tam said. \u201cThe ones issued already will run their course, but they\u2019re not inclined to issue more.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNow it\u2019s up to the landowners and the applicants to make the decision, based on the merits and state law,\u201d he added. The FERC decision \u201csimplifies things. People can\u2019t use [FERC] anymore as a bludgeon against others.\u201d<\/p>\n
With FERC now out of the picture, KIUC and its agent, Free Flow Power, LLC, more than ever needs to make nice with the ADC, which owns irrigation systems and lands that KIUC wants to use for hydropower facilities, including a 7.7 megawatt facility along the Koke`e Ditch, a 1.5 MW facility along the Kekaha Ditch, and a 2 MW facility using the Wailua reservoir. Althouh the DLNR owns the reservoir, the ADC owns some of the surrounding land that KIUC wants to use for a pipeline and power house.<\/p>\n
Earlier this year, to ensure its tenants continue to have ample water for their crops, the ADC filed motions to intervene in the FERC dockets for preliminary permits for the projects.<\/p>\n
In June, the FERC granted a preliminary permit for the Wailua facility.<\/p>\n
Recognizing the need for coordination, representatives from KIUC and Free Flow met with the ADC board this past summer on Kaua`i, wrote a letter reaching out to the agency, and made a brief presentation at the ADC\u2019s September board meeting in Honolulu.<\/p>\n
Jason Hines of Free Flow explained that the layout for the Wailua facility has not been finalized and that his company is trying to tailor that project to complement current agricultural uses. As a result, the facility would likely end up producing no more than 500 kilowatts, rather than 2 MW, he said.<\/p>\n
Because the facility would use the same water resources and lands that ADC\u2019s tenants use, Hines said he wanted to \u201csee if there were opportunities for shared infrastructure, something that was more integrated with these three potential areas … a combo hydro-irrigation project.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Specifically, the utility and Free Flow asked that the ADC, in addition to informally discussing the project, enter into a memorandum of agreement with them to cooperatively investigate the potential for the hydropower on ADC lands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They also asked for a right of entry onto the ADC\u2019s Kalepa lands, which surround the reservoir, to get a better understanding of the ditches involved.\u00a0<\/p>\n
When asked by ADC board member David Rietow how much water the Wailua reservoir facility was expected to use, Hines said that the 2 MW plant originally proposed would have taken all of the diverted water, more than 40 million gallons a day.<\/p>\n
\u201cSince then, just understanding what the irrigation needs are, it would be less than that. The amount is still to be determined,\u201d he said, adding that the plant may only take five to ten percent of the maximum flow.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Even then, Rietow noted that under the current design, the water diverted through the plant would bypass all of the agricultural tenants and be \u201cuseless for anyone else,\u201d since it would be dumped directly into the ocean.<\/p>\n
But that could also change, Hines said. The hydro turbine could be located at a higher elevation to allow the used water to be used for irrigation at lower elevations.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cReally, at this point, it\u2019s trying to fully understand the pieces,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re trying to do is get everyone around the table. … as opposed to trying to guess how best to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The board took no action on KIUC\u2019s requests.<\/p>\n
At an ADC planning subcommittee meeting held a few weeks later, Tam said the roles of all of the agencies potentially affected by the hydropower — the ADC, the DLNR, state Department of Agriculture, and the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (another potential water user) — need to be sorted out at the administration level.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are implications for ADC lands, DHHL lands, stream flow. It can\u2019t be decided at random \u2013 [according to] whoever files [for a permit] first. That\u2019s dumb. The ADC has got to be clear what its interest is. Hydros are a great idea, but it\u2019s not being coordinated so everyone is not at each other\u2019s throats,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/b><\/p>\n
Obstacles Plague Biomass Company<\/b><\/p>\n
Plans for Pacific West Energy, LLC\u2019s big biomass plant continue to change as the company encounters one obstacle after another.<\/p>\n
In late September, Pac West updated the ADC on its progress toward securing feedstock lands, as well as a site for its proposed 20 megawatt power plant. Earlier this year, the ADC promised to consider leasing 750 acres of its Kekaha lands to Pac West. The company originally sought more than a thousand acres, but the ADC chose to lease most of its available land to Pacific Light and Power, LLC, a Kaua`i company that proposed to generate electricity for Kekaha tenants using hydropower, biomass, and a gasification plant.<\/p>\n
At the ADC meeting, Pac West president William Maloney reported that the company, which had tried to construct its power plant at the former Kekaha sugar mill, has decided to relocate its power plant back to Gay & Robinson lands.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Community resistance and permitting issues had forced the relocation, Maloney said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The size of the plant has also changed. Depending on the fuel supply, the plant might also produce as little as 12 MW, he said.<\/p>\n
Securing an adequate fuel supply has been a problem for Pac West. For years, the company had been negotiating with the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands to lease thousands of acres in Kekaha. But that fell through, also as a result of community resistance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, Maloney said, the company is now looking at leasing DHHL lands in Anahola, on the opposite side of the island. Of the 4,000 acres available in Anahola, about 1,250 are usable, he said.<\/p>\n
To power a 20 MW plant, he would need less than 5,000 acres, he told the board, adding that feedstock would likely come from lands owned by Dow, Gay & Robinson, other private landowners, and possibly the ADC.<\/p>\n
Although having to truck crops across the island is not ideal, it \u201cdoesn\u2019t blow the economics of the project,\u201d Maloney said.<\/p>\n
When ADC board chair Scott Enright noted that Pac West had reportedly planned to use eucalyptus from the Big Island as feedstock, Maloney admitted that was his company\u2019s least-economic feedstock option. Even so, he said, \u201cfrom an economic standpoint, the higher cost of bringing those over … fits the model.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite Maloney\u2019s assurances, Brad Rockwell, production manager for the Kaua`i Island Utility Cooperative, said the utility was \u201cnot close to understanding\u201d whether the Pac West would produce power at a cost it would be willing
\nto pay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t comment on that. We don\u2019t have anything being proposed at this point,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Maloney said that because the company relocated its plant, it has had to restart negotiations with the utility.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAs they\u2019re looking at their hydro and solar options, we\u2019ve got to fit into that mix,\u201d he said, adding that KIUC president Dave Bissel has suggested that the plant should be smaller.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/b><\/p>\n
Galbraith Lands Nearly Secure<\/b><\/p>\n
After five years of negotiation, the purchase of some 1,200 acres of prime agricultural land in central O`ahu is nearing completion. Public funding for the project has been secured, according to Hawai`i Trust for Public Land director Leah Hong, who gave a status report at the ADC\u2019s board meeting in September.<\/p>\n
The lands, which will eventually be managed by the ADC, will cost $18 million, $13 million of which will come from a state general obligation bond. The U.S. Army is kicking in $3 million, and the TPL has secured $2 million from the City and County of Honolulu.<\/p>\n
Hong said she is finalizing the payment with Bank of Hawai`i, which is the trustee for the Galbraith Estate, owner of the land.\u00a0<\/p>\n
ADC director Alfredo Lee said the state bond will likely be posted in April.<\/p>\n
Once the ADC acquires the lands, it will need to prepare a master plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019d better. The state invested $13 million,\u201d said board member and Department of Agriculture deputy director James Nakatani at a planning subcommittee meeting last month.<\/p>\n
The TPL is also partnering with the Office of Hawaiian Affairs to purchase more than 500 acres of Galbraith land in the same area that contain an archaeological feature known as the Kukaniloko birthing stones.<\/p>\n
* * *<\/b><\/p>\n
ADC Attempts to Draft Administrative Rules<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cOne of the advantages we have is, maybe we shoot from the hip, but we move,\u201d ADC board member David Rietow said at its September meeting.<\/p>\n
Since its inception more than a decade ago, the ADC, graced by the state Legislature with some enviable exceptions to state procurement and land disposition laws, has managed its lands and infrastructure with relative ease.<\/p>\n
And Rietow and his fellow board members want things to stay that way.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After more than a decade in existence, the agency is only now beginning to attempt to draft rules, in part because its goals have expanded beyond facilitating a transition from a sugar plantation-dominated ag industry to a more diversified one.<\/p>\n
The ADC has been taking on more projects, including renewable energy generation, and new lands, such as those at Kalepa, Kaua`i. What\u2019s more, the public is also becoming more aware of its activities, ADC staff told the board.<\/p>\n
Although staff said that administrative rules might reduce the agency\u2019s flexibility, board member James Nakatani didn\u2019t buy it, since the board can craft the rules to allow the agency to take full advantage of its enabling statutes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
* * *<\/b><\/p>\n
Contamination Prevents Generator Installation<\/b><\/p>\n
The state Department of Health won\u2019t allow the ADC to install backup generators, purchased years ago, until contamination at the site — a former pesticide mixing facility operated by the Kekaha Sugar Co. — is mitigated.<\/p>\n
The generators are intended to provide emergency power in the event that one or both of the hydropower plants that power irrigation pumps in the area fail. The ADC plans to install them across the street from the privately owned Kekaha Sugar Mill, which is the subject of a separate DOH investigation.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Although soil tests on the ADC site found low to moderate dioxin and arsenic contamination, the DOH has required the ADC to draft a remedial action work plan before installing the generators. The plan, released in September, recommends signage and security monitoring, placing boulders and installing a cattle fence around the site, and placing three to four inches of gravel on access roads to cap contaminants, deter runoff, and suppress dust.<\/p>\n
Teresa Dawson<\/b><\/p>\n
Volume 22, Number 5 — November 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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