Hawai`i_Environmental_and_Energy_Issues

Gutting Hawaii Laws

2008-04-19T01:47:00.000-07:00

HB 2863 was written by Castle and Cooke and introduced by House Speaker Say to get around all meaningful public and state and county agency review of what would be the largest energy project in the history of the State: a 300-400 MW wind farm on Lana`i interconnected to HECO's grid on O`ahu.

Here are excepts from the proposed Conference Draft 1 written by Castle and Cooke (followed by what you can do):

SECTION 1. Over the past four years, the legislature and the department of business, economic development and tourism have committed to achieving ... increased self-sufficiency.

The legislature recognizes that private sector development of large scale projects must be encouraged and is necessary to meet the state mandate and goals for renewable energy.

Therefore, the legislature finds that there is a compelling state interest ... and that to achieve this compelling state interest, it is necessary to establish an expedited and streamlined permitting process that creates a regulatory framework that is predictable ...

SECTION 2. Renewable Energy Facility Siting Process

''Applicant'' means any person or entity who submits an application to the energy resources coordinator for a permit or approval for a renewable energy facility.'

'Energy Resources Coordinator'' or ''coordinator'' means the energy resources coordinator as designated in section 196-3. [DBEDT Director]

''Permit mean any approval, no matter the nomenclature, necessary for siting, development, construction, or operation of a renewable energy facility ... including ... state land use reclassification ... county development, community, or community development plan amendment ... state conservation district use permit ... a state special permit for an agricultural or rural district ... a special management area permit ... a shoreline variance ...

''Renewable Energy'' has the same meaning as the term is defined under section 269-91.

[HRS 269-91: ''Renewable energy" means energy generated or produced utilizing the following sources: ... Wind ... sun ... Falling water ... Biogas ... Geothermal ... Ocean water, currents and waves ... Biomass ... Biofuels]

''Renewable energy facility'' or ''facility'' means a facility located in the State that is planned to have the capacity to produce from renewable energy at least two hundred megawatts of electricity.

The term includes any of the following associated with the facility: ... the land parcel on which the facility is situated ... any renewable energy production structure or equipment ... any energy transmission line from the facility to a public utility's electric distribution system ... any on-site building ...

The coordinator [DBEDT Director] shall have the power and authority, which shall be liberally construed, necessary to implement and further that renewable energy policies ...the coordinator shall have the power and authority, as provided under this Chapter, to receive, accept, review, coordinate and approve all applications for Permits necessary for the development of a renewable energy facility on an expedited basis.

The coordinator shall coordinate and process Permits concurrently, and shall not take longer than six months following receipt of a completed consolidated application to complete the review and approval of any such application and all Permits relating thereto, subject only to final acceptance of an environmental assessment and/or environmental impact statement as may be required under Chapter 343.

Within ten days following receipt of an application or supplement thereto, the coordinator shall give written notice to the applicant as to ... any deficiencies relating thereto ... identify all state and county permits applicable ...the coordinator ... shall determine the terms and conditions to be imposed on the state permits that are necessary to protect the public health, safety and welfare to the extent practicable without unduly delaying, impairing or frustrating the purpose, policies and goals of this chapter.

The terms and conditions may require the applicant to improve off-site infrastructure or establish measures to mitigate significant adverse environmental effects, but only to the extent directly caused by the applicant's renewable energy facility.

The coordinator shall make the determination for all terms and conditions of all required state permits no later than sixty days after receipt of a completed consolidated application; provided that, if an approval for a federal permit or delegated environmental permit, or acceptance of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement, is prerequisite to the approval of a state permit required for the facility, the coordinator's determination shall be made, but its effectiveness shall be conditioned upon approval of the federal permit, delegated environmental permit and/or acceptance of an environmental assessment or environmental impact statement, as applicable.

If, within forty-five days of receipt of a recommendation from the coordinator, a county agency does not approve the county permit, either because of rejection or inaction, the permit with the terms and conditions recommended by the coordinator shall be deemed approved on the forty-sixth day without necessity of further action by the county agency or coordinator. ...

Notwithstanding the action by the coordinator on a county permit ... the relevant county agency shall be responsible for monitoring and enforcing the terms and conditions of the permit.

To accomplish the concurrent review, the coordinator shall, at the applicant's request, consent to receipt and review of portions of an environmental impact statement before its completion.

The coordinator shall establish and implement a system to coordinate and concurrently process the review and approval by the public utilities commission of any power purchase agreement

Judicial review of dispute regarding approval process; inapplicability of contested case procedures.

(a) Any person aggrieved by the approval of a state or county permit or the terms and condition of any approved permit may file an action for relief in the circuit court ... for the purposes of bringing judicial action under this subsection, the term ''person aggrieved'' shall include the applicant and any state or county agency, office, council or other government agency which has decision making authority related to the approved permit. Other parties, pursuant to court action, may be adjudged aggrieved.

(b) The inapplicability of the use of contested case procedures pursuant to chapter 91 in the approval of any state or county permit pursuant to this chapter shall not be grounds for any judicial appeal.

Superiority of chapter over conflicting state or county law. The provisions of this chapter shall supersede any conflicting state or county law.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Make a call:

The Conference Committee Members for the House are

Co-Chair Mina Morita (586-8435; fax 586-8437; toll free 274-3141 + 68435),

Co-Chair Ken Ito (586-8470),

Co-Chair Robert Herkes (586-8400; fax 586-8404; toll free 974-4000 + 68400)

Co-Chair Marcus Oshiro (586-6200; fax 586-6201)

Member Colleen Meyer (586-8540; fax 586-8544).

The Conference Committee Members for the Senate are

Chair Ron Menor (586-6740; fax 586-6829),

Co-Chair Clayton Hee (586-7330; Fax 586-7334),

Co-Chair Lorraine Inouye (586-7335; Fax 586-7339; toll free 974-4000 + 67335),

Co-Chair Russ Kokubun (586-6760 ; Fax 586-6689; toll free 974-4000 + 66760),

Co-Chair Roz Baker (586-6070; fax 586-6071; toll free 984-2400 + 66070)

Gordon Trimble (586-7100; fax 808-586-7109)

2007-11-28T23:07:00.000-08:00

2007-11-28T23:06:00.000-08:00

Postings

2007-11-28T23:05:00.001-08:00

Hawaii Biomass to Energy (BTE) Facilities Planned

2007-11-07T09:32:00.000-08:00

Hawaiian Mahogany Company, Inc. (Bill Cowern of Lawa‘i, Kaua`i) leases 3,600 acres, including land owned by the Knudsen family and Grove Farm. The company has planted more than 600,000 Eucalyptus trees (used for wood products) inter-planted with Albizia (which produces nitrogen which reduces the need for fertilizers). Albezia can be used to make energy, lumber, organic fertilizer, biofuels.

Green Energy Hawaii will purchase woodchips and biomass from Hawaiian Mahogany Company as feedstock for a 7.5 megawatt Biomass-To-Energy (BTE) gasification/thermal oxidation facility in which wood chips are slowly heated until volatile gases are released into an oxygen deprived environment.

Cambium Global Timberland Ltd. of Australia has bought the lease to 6,100 acres of Kamehameha Schools land on the Big Island. HELCO signed an agreement with Tradewinds to buy from 2 to 3.6 megawatts from the mill.

Tradewinds will harvest eucalyptus from a 6,100 acre Kamehameha Schools property in Pahala, Kau, Big Island. Log haul trucks would carry the logs 80 miles to a new mill and power plant in Ookala, Hamakua and then the finished wood would be shipped 40 miles to the Hilo port. Tradewinds will not purchase eucalyptus trees from Kamehameha Schools 30,500 acre Hamakua tract.

James Loux of Bioenergy Systems of Hawai‘i proposes a wattle-to-energy facility utilizing dead wattle (an invasive species) from the Haleakala Ranch, the state Kula Forest Reserve, Ulupalakua Ranch and the West Maui Mountain Watershed Partnership. The electricity produced would be sold to MECO at the same price MECO produces electricity from petroleum, resulting in no savings to ratepayers.

September 25, 2007: Wheeling

2007-09-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

Intra-Governmental Wheeling

The Public Utilities Commission (PUC; Commission) has initiated a proceeding to investigate the feasibility of intra-governmental wheeling in Hawaii (renting the grid to ship electricity from a renewable energy producer to governmental facilities).

Definitions

Wheeling "is the movement of electricity, owned by a power supplier and sold to a retail consumer, over transmission and distribution lines owned by neither one." A fee is charged by the owners of the lines for letting others use them. (www.cepc.net/rewhl.htm)

Wheeling is defined as ''the process of transmitting electric power from a seller's point of generation across a third-party-owned transmission and distribution system to the seller's retail customer.'' (Hawaii PUC)

Intragovernmental Wheeling means that the producer of the energy is a consortium or partnership between renewable energy producer(s) and government(s) and the buyer is a governmental agency.

General Background

The Hawaii PUC opened a docket in 1996 to examine competition within the Hawaii electric utility industry (Docket No. 96-0493). Many of the issues in that docket morphed into the Distributed Generation docket the PUC opened in 2003 (Docket No. 03-0371). The Commission ruled in the DG docket that the utility can do DG at utility substations, but customer-sited DG should be installed by third parties. Life of the Land was a party in dockets 96-0493 and 03-03671 where, among other things, we advocated for wheeling.

Wheeling Docket: Procedural Background

This docket was opened on June 29, 2007 (Order No. 23530) which established the issues in the docket. On August 28, 2007 the commission issued Stipulated Protective Order No. 23616. The parties and participants have until October 26, 2007 to file a Stipulated Prehearing Order.

The Issues

1. Identifying what impact, if any, intra-governmental wheeling will have on Hawaii's electric industry;

2. Addressing interconnection matters;

3. Identifying the costs to utilities of implementing intra-governmental wheeling;

4. Identifying any rate design and cost allocation issues associated with intra-governmental wheeling;

5. Considering the financial cost and impact of intra-governmental wheeling on non-wheeling customers of a utility, i.e., an uncompensated use of the utility system;

6. Identifying any power back-up issues; and

7. Addressing how rates for intra-governmental wheeling would be set.

The Parties (15)

Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO)
Maui Electric Company (MECO)
Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO)
Kauai Island Utility Coop (KIUC)
Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT)
Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs - Division of Consumer Advocacy (DCA)
Hawai`i County
Maui County
Kaua`i County
City & County of Honolulu
The Department of the Navy on behalf of the United States Department of Defense (DoD)
Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance (HREA)
Life of the Land (LOL)
Castle & Cooke Resorts LLC (Castle)
Lanai Sustainability Research LLC (LSR)

The Participants (3)

RealGreen Power LLC (RealGreen)
SunEdison LLC (SunEdison)
Puna Geothermal Ventures (PGV)

Hawai`i_Energy_Issues_September_23_2007

2007-09-22T10:42:00.001-07:00

Contents

Energy Cost Adjustment Clause (ECAC), BlueEarth, Imperium, HELCO IRP 2007-2026, Rep Abercrombie, Sunshine at the PUC, NRDC/HECO biofuel policy, Wheeling

Sharing the pain of oil price increases

Currently 100 percent of fuel price fluctuations are automatically passed directly onto the consumer via the Energy Cost Adjustment Clause (ECAC), giving the utility little incentive to switch to fuels with low price volatility (i.e., renewable energy).

State law was amended in 2006 to require the Public Utilities Commission to decide the proper allocation between ratepayers and the utilities for fuel volatility. Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) §269-16(g): ''Any automatic fuel rate adjustment clause requested by a public utility in an application filed with the commission shall be designed, as determined in the commission's discretion, to: (1) Fairly share the risk of fuel cost changes between the public utility and its customers''

The issue is currently being debated between parties in the Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) rate case. The fair allocation principle seems to be in trouble:

''On September 6, 2007, HECO, the Consumer Advocate and the Department of Defense (DOD) (the parties) executed and filed an agreement on most of the issues in HECO's 2007 test year rate case proceeding. The agreement is subject to approval by the Public Utilities Commission of the State of Hawaii (PUC), which may accept or reject the agreement in part or in full. ... In the settlement agreement, the parties agreed that the ECAC should continue in its present form for purposes of an interim rate increase and stated that they are continuing discussions with respect to the final design of the ECAC to be proposed for approval in the final decision and order.'' (''Entry into a Material Definitive Agreement'', HECO Form 8-K filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, September 12, 2007)

BlueEarth Maui Biodiesel LLC

Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) §343-1 Findings and purpose. The legislature finds that the quality of humanity’s environment is critical to humanity’s well being ... It is the purpose of this chapter to establish a system of environmental review which will ensure that environmental concerns are given appropriate consideration in decision making along with economic and technical considerations.

Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) §343-5 Applicability and requirements. (a) Except as otherwise provided, an environmental assessment shall be required for actions that ... (9) Propose any ... (D) Oil refinery

Act 55, 2004 (HB1294 SD1 CD1) established that that under HRS §343-5(a)(9)(D) an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) is required for an oil refinery.

BlueEarth Maui Biodiesel LLC is proposing the largest biodiesel refinery in the Unites States (120M gal/year), fueled by one of the world's dirtiest fuel -- palm oil. Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) would be part owner. Although HECO has never profited from fuel, HECO would collect half the profit and give it to a third party to promote local biofuels. The state approved the issuance of $59M in Special Purpose Revenue Bonds (SPRBs) for the biorefinery, subject to the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) signing off on the sustainability of the fuel. BlueEarth has been arguing that they are not building a massive biorefinery and should be exempt from completing an Environmental Impact Statement.

Life of the Land letter to DBEDT Director Ted Liu (August 24, 2007): The provision was adopted in committee on April 3, 2003. Fifty-four weeks later, on April 19, 2004, the bill passed final reading in both houses without any opposition: 42-0 (House) 24-0 (Senate). During the final days of the Legislative session, on May 5, 2004, the Governor signed the bill into law.

''The environmental group Life of the Land says an EIS is required by a 2004 state law, and on Monday state Sen. J. Kalani English, who wrote the amendment, said that’s correct.'' (Maui News, August 21, 2007)

There has been some confusion about whether the Final EIS for the Waena Power Generating Facility covers the proposed BlueEarth bio-refinery. The existing Final EIS (1997) occurred before the Land Use Commission, while the subsequent rezoning (2000) occurred at the county level. The Final EIS explicitly stated the exact components of four 58-MW generators. The Final EIS could not have anticipated that Maui County would require alternative energy at the site.

The Final EIS explicitly analyzed non-fossil fuel alternatives and dismissed them. It explicitly rejected ethanol and did not discuss biodiesel. Three years later, alternative energy was raised: ''J. Kalani English, the Council's Land Use Committee chairman, said the zoning bill took the middle path by allowing the utility to use only 32.5 of its 65.7 acres of the Waena land for oil-fired energy. The remaining acreage has been designated for alternative energy use.''

On August, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled unanimously in the Superferry case that ''The Hawai`i Department's determination that improvements to the Kahului Harbor, on the Island of Maui, are exempt from the requirements of Hawai`i Revised Statutes (HRS) chapter 343 (Supp. 2004) was erroneous as a matter of law''

DBEDT is required under the law to certify whether HECO's Palm Oil Policy is sustainable, as defined partially by law.

DBEDT might choose to evaluate whether HECO's Palm Oil Policy is sustainable without first determining what the environmental impacts are. It would be simpler if DBEDT required an EIS and then used that information to determine whether HECO's policy meets the law.

Life of the Land letter to DBEDT Director Ted Liu (September 6, 2007) ''We are not asserting that that a DBEDT discretionary decision on authorizing the Department of Budget and Finance (B&F) to authorize the issuance of Special Purpose Revenue Bonds (SPRBs) triggers the need for an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

It may, but that wasn't our point. The law is clear: (1) an EA or EIS must be done since an oil refinery is being proposed; and (2) DBEDT must evaluate whether the HECO/NRDC proposal is sustainable. It seems reasonable that the environmental review be done before the DBEDT ruling since: (a) the EA / EIS document must be prepared at the earliest reasonable time; and (b) DBEDT should use the document to answer the question before them.''

Maui County Council (September 4, 2007)

Life of the Land Testimony to the Maui Council Planning Committee (September 4, 2007) re PC-8 BlueEarth Maui Biodiesel ''Palm Oil Biodiesel is worse than burning coal or oil in electric generators. From an environmental, health, cultural, climatic or economic analysis, it makes absolutely no sense to convert from importing petroleum to importing palm oil. ...

'The most destructive crop on earth is no solution to the energy crisis' (George Monbiot, The Guardian, December 6, 2005) ''By promoting biodiesel as a substitute, we have missed the fact that it is worse than the fossil-fuel burning it replaces ... Before I go any further, I should make it clear that turning used chip fat into motor fuel is a good thing. ... The biodiesel industry has accidentally invented the world's most carbon-intensive fuel. ... In terms of its impact on both the local and global environments, palm biodiesel is more destructive than crude oil from Nigeria.''

Nelson Mandela presented George Monbiot with a United Nations Global 500 Award for outstanding environmental achievement (1995). Monbiot has held visiting fellowships or professorships at the universities of Oxford (environmental policy), Bristol (philosophy), Keele (politics) and East London (environmental science). He has also won the Lloyds National Screenwriting Prize for his screenplay The Norwegian, a Sony Award for radio production, the Sir Peter Kent Award and the OneWorld National Press Award. In summer 2007 he was awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Essex and an honorary fellowship by Cardiff University. ...

State and county laws have both a ''letter of the law'' and a ''spirit of the law''. In terms of the latter, the state legislature passed a bill in 2004 that sought to close the loopholes that enabled gigantic projects from escaping environmental review. In addition to new classes of facilities (such as oil refineries), the law also focused on private facilities on private lands.

These provision aimed to prevent another occurrence whereby the Hamakua Energy Partners -- a naphtha-fueled 60 megawatt (MW) combined cycle power plant built along the shore north of Honoka`a on Hawai`i Island, did not trigger Chapter 343.

Now BlueEarth is using semantics to argue that the comprehensive overhaul of the state EIS law was not intended to require an EIS for the largest biodiesel refinery in the United States burning one of the most climatically destructive fuels on the planet. BlueEarth has recently been promoting the idea that they are not building a refinery but a transesterification facility.

Not only is there argument faulty (transesterification is one step within a biodiesel refinery), but it is contradicted in BlueEarth's testimony and in Hawaiian Electric Industries filings with the U..S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Maui Mayor Endorses BlueEarth Maui Biofuels LLC (February 17, 2007) “We welcome BlueEarth Biofuels commitment to build a plant here and I commend Maui Electric Company and Hawaiian Electric Company’s willingness to work with them,'' said Mayor Tavares. ''In my inaugural address, I said that we must diversify our economy through sustainable technologies and agriculture. This is a wonderful step toward this end.” (County of Maui News Release)

Imperium Renewables LLC

Life of the Land Testimony to the Honolulu City Council Committee on Zoning re Resolution 07-252 - Special Management Area Permit (SMP) to construct and operate a Biodiesel Production Facility (2007/SMA-35)

Applicant: Imperium (September 4, 2007) ''According to documents filed with the United Stated Securities and Exchange Commission, Imperium Renewable Hawaii LLC wants to import palm oil from Malaysia.

Palm Oil Biodiesel is worse than burning coal or oil in electric generators. From an environmental, health, cultural, climatic or economic analysis, it makes absolutely no sense to convert from importing petroleum to importing palm oil. Imperium Renewable LLC has palm oil contracts with companies that have indefensible practices involving cultural genocide, environmental destruction and greenhouse gas emissions.''

The Honolulu City Council approved the Shoreline Management Permit.

Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO): Integrated Resource Plan (2007-2026)

During the early part of the docket, parties file questions to other parties.

Life of the Land's Information Requests (Discovery) to the Division of Consumer Advocacy, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs re Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO) Integrated Resource Planning (IRP) (PUC Docket 2004-0046) (August 24, 2007)

What is the Consumer Advocate's policy re biofuel use for electricity generation ... Please provide a detailed analysis of how the Consumer Advocate came up with its biofuel policy: (a) who were the decision makers; (b) What documents did they rely on; (c) Who influenced their decision; (d) Please provide a timeline listing the significant dates and meetings and staff whereby the Consumer Advocate developed its biofuel policy.

Please provide a list of all meetings the Consumer Advocate has attended re biofuels with (a) NRDC; (b) BlueEarth; (c) all others.

Please list all documents the Consumer Advocate possesses, reviewed, and/or analyzed re biofuels. Please list the biofuels expertise of each Consumer Advocate staff member.

Please state who within the Consumer Advocate made the decision to advocate for biofuels.

Please provide any documentation on whether the Consumer Advocate met with consumers about supporting biofuels

Please list each meeting, communication and correspondence the Consumer Advocate held with the utilities re biofuels.

Please list each meeting, communication and correspondence the Consumer Advocate held with the Executive Branch re biofuels.

Please list each meeting, communication and or correspondence the Consumer Advocate held with Biofuel Advocates re biofuels.

Please list each meeting, communication and or correspondence the Consumer Advocate held with Utilities re biofuels.

Please list each meeting, communication and or correspondence the Consumer Advocate held with members of the Utility Trade Groups re biofuels.

Please list each meeting, communication and or correspondence the Consumer Advocate held with members of the Agricultural Trade Groups re biofuels

Please list the biofuel conferences attended by the Consumer Advocate. Who will the Consumer Advocate employ re biofuel testimony.

What is meant by life cycle assessment?

What should be included and excluded in life cycle analysis of biofuels.

Should biofuels be assumed to have a zero climate impact? Please elaborate.

Has a Hawaii utility ever profited from fuel?

Is the Consumer Advocate concerned about (a) ratepayer impacts; (b) taxpayer impacts; (c) externalities?

What are the environmental, social, political and economic impacts (positive and negative) associated with biofuels.

How does the Consumer Advocate define agrofuels?

When did the Consumer Advocate first inform HECO of its biofuel policy?

Congressman Neil Abercrombie addressed the 4th Annual Ocean Energy Conference (Turtle Bay, August 22, 2007)

''The Canadians are drilling for natural gas on the Great Lakes ... and WE CAN'T Do It on our side?!.''

He added ''We have enough coal for 200 years ... we need to take coal and turn it into liquid energy.'' He pointed out how effective the NRA is, that they are always at Capitol Hill, always lobbying, and they are effective.

Neil said he could talk against them because they didn't give him any money. He said if the ocean people want to be effective they must have a huge presence at Capitol Hill, and continually write letters to the editors and viewpoints promoting their position. He stressed money, money and money.

Public Utilities Commission (PUC) re Public Participation

The public has 20 days to file a Motion to Intervene after a new docket is opened. However, in a ruling on our Motion to Intervene in the Maui Electric Company (MECO) Integrated Resource Plan 2027-2026, the Commission ruled that public notice of new dockets do not have to be posted (a) at the Commission office; (b) on the Consumer Advocate’s web site; (c) on the web.

Rather, one notice buried in the classified section of a state and a county newspaper is sufficient.
MECO had opposed our intervention since we just wanted to discuss biofuels and climate change. The PUC has agreed to deny us being a party.

HECO/NRDC Sustainable Palm Oil Policies.

Draft Proposal (June 2007): Requires palm oil companies to obey 6 of 39 RSPO principles and criteria and are working towards achieving the other 33. Working towards banning child labor, working towards ''free and prior informed consent on indigenous communities''

Public Meetings: Oahu (June 27), Hilo (June 28), Kona (June 29), Maui (July 2)

Final Proposal (August 2007): Requires palm oil companies to obey 39 of 39 RSPO principles and criteria

Wheeling (Renting the Electric Transmission Grid)

The Public Utilities Commission has opened a docket on Intra-governmental Wheeling, that is, the ability of a renewable energy company hooking up with a governmental agency to produce renewable energy in one location, rent a transmission line from the utility, and ship it to governmental facilities.

This will increase the use of renewable energy while protecting ratepayers, since any possible cross-subsidy would be between ratepayers and the government, that is, any net financial gain would go to the government or the ratepayers instead of a private company.In addition, wheeling would mean that locals would need to be hired to build and operate the facilities, less money would be exported for oil, and the economy would benefit from the added infusion of cash investing in these renewable energy systems.

The Public Utilities Commission invited entities to become parties in the docket. About 18 entities want to be involved: all four counties, DBEDT, DCCA, the US military, several renewable energy companies, and Life of the Land.HECO protested against the inclusion of renewable energy parties. HECO wrote motions against the renewable energy companies from being permitted party status. HECO did not notify others, such as Life of the Land, that they had filed these motions.

We learned about them when these renewable energy companies informed all 18 possible intervenors about this activity.Now the Public Utilities Commission has approved Order 23616, dated August 28, 2007 (proposed by the Consumer Advocate and the utilities) which limits public discussion on some key issues.

Like HECO, the PUC did not notify the counties, the military and other potential parties about the Order.Thus the sub-docket is moving forward.