Former Hawaii Governors Offer Strong Support for Honua Ola Bioenergy to Produce Clean Renewable Energy on Hawaii Island
October 23, 2020
Former Hawaii governors George Ariyoshi, John Waihee, Ben Cayetano, and Neil Abercrombie have joined together to offer strong support of the Honua Ola Bioenergy facility and are urging the biomass plant be allowed to go forward and begin producing clean renewable energy for Hawaii. The former governors provided the following joint statement in support of Honua Ola.
“We believe Honua Ola Bioenergy, the green energy plant in Pepeekeo designed and built following government approvals to produce renewable energy for decades to come, will reduce the state’s dependence on fossil fuels, help Hawaii to combat climate change, and provide vitally needed jobs to support the economic recovery of the Big Island.
“We champion the use of all renewable energy technologies to help Hawaii achieve its goal of having 100 percent renewable energy on the grid by 2045. We are in agreement that Honua Ola should be recognized for the central role its replenishable biomass technology will have in supporting Hawaii’s continuing efforts to reduce the effects of climate change on our current and future quality of life.
“We strongly favor having multiple forms of renewable energy power – solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, hydroelectric, and other technologies – work in a complementary manner with each other, with the ultimate goal of removing fossil fuels from Hawai‘i’s environment. We disagree with the thinking that various forms of renewable energies should compete with each other in an effort to replace fossil fuels.
“What’s most important to the future of our state, to our aina and to our keiki, is reducing the effects of fossil fuels and climate change. Hawaii needs a variety of renewable energy resources to replace fossil fuel plants as soon as possible. Honua Ola helps achieve that goal.
“We appreciate Honua Ola’s dedication to plant and grow more trees than will be harvested from commercial forests of eucalyptus trees planted on former sugar lands, and their pledge that the project will be carbon negative. The fact that Honua Ola will also utilize invasive tree species, such as albizia trees, as fuel to generate clean energy will further help to protect Hawaii’s environment.
“We applaud the fact that Honua Ola will plant more than 3 million trees through the National Forest Foundation during its first five years and that it will also support a significant tree-planting project with the Friends of Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
“Honua Ola has built a biomass power plant on the basis of a power purchase agreement previously approved by the PUC that is now 99 percent complete and will produce 15 percent of the Big Island’s electricity needs while eliminating the need for an estimated 250,000 barrels of imported oil each year.
“Unlike other alternative energy sources, Honua Ola will provide electricity 24 hours a day, seven days a week, even when the sun doesn’t shine and the wind doesn’t blow. And by enhancing the stability of the Big Island’s power grid, Honua Ola will support efforts to deactivate and retire existing fossil fuel generators.
“We believe Honua Ola’s ability to produce clean, renewable energy is in the best interests of Hawai‘i’s future. The agreement reached between Honua Ola and Hawaiian Electric that was previously approved by the PUC should be honored and affirmed by the Hawaii Supreme Court.”
The support of the former governors comes as the Hawaii Supreme Court considers Honua Ola’s request that the Court vacate the Public Utilities Commission’s (PUC) decision on July 9 preventing the newly built facility from operating. On October 7, the Hawaii Supreme Court ordered the PUC and other parties to submit written answers to Honua Ola’s request within 20 days.