Court again rejects Big Island biomass plant
The state Supreme Court on Monday once again dashed Honua Ola Bioenergy LLC’s hopes of bringing its $520 million Hawaii island biomass plant into operation burning trees for renewable energy.
The high court unanimously affirmed the Public Utilities Commission’s May 23 decision denying a power purchase agreement between Hawaiian Electric and Honua Ola, legally known as Hu Honua Bioenergy.
“The reality is that yesterday’s good enough has become today’s unacceptable,” the court concluded in a 20-page decision written by Associate Justice Todd W. Eddins. “The PUC was under no obligation to evaluate an energy project conceived of in 2012 the same way in 2022. Indeed, doing so would have betrayed its constitutional duty.”
