Hawaii Consumer Advocate Opposes Bioenergy Power Plant On Big Island … Critics say there are too many outstanding questions for the Public Utilities Commission to approve the Hu Honua project.
Expensive prices passed on to customers and long-term environmental impacts are among the major concerns Hawaii’s Consumer Advocate and others continue to have about Hu Honua, a proposed tree-burning power plant on the Big Island.
After lengthy evidentiary hearings in early March, parties to the Hu Honua case before the state Public Utilities Commission filed hundreds of pages of briefs in recent days. Much of the paperwork continues to criticize the proposed bioenergy facility on the east side of Hawaii island. But Hu Honua stands by its project, saying it’s environmentally friendly, a job creator and a source of renewable power for island residents.
Hawaii’s Consumer Advocate, Life of the Land and Tawhiri Power all say important questions and concerns remain about Hawaii Electric Light Co.’s proposed power purchase agreement with Hu Honua.
“Hu Honua is not a good project and it should be canned,”said Henry Curtis, executive director of Life of the Land, a nonprofit public interest group. “The Big Island has enough energy. It’s not needed and it will raise rates.”
