How A Maui Solar Farm Reached An ‘Unprecedented’ Deal With Neighbors … Advocates say the agreement between a renewable energy company and a community group in West Maui could be a model for resolving disputes.
In September, the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission took the unusual step of ordering a solar farm developer and a community group to use mediation to resolve a bitter dispute over a planned project to power more than 11,500 homes.
The West Maui Preservation Association had intervened in Kahana Solar’s application for a power purchase agreement with Maui Electric Co., setting in motion a contested case before the PUC.
The association listed a litany of concerns ranging from pollution and the protection of native plants to electricity price impacts, and said it wouldn’t support the project unless the developer addressed their issues.
Maui laws only require PUC approval for such projects, but the commission had approved the association’s request to intervene.
