Waahila report tangles
HECO’s power lineThe issue: An official says the
state should not let HECO install
power lines on Waahila Ridge.A recommendation from a hearings officer that the state reject Hawaiian Electric's plan to string high-voltage power lines along Waahila Ridge suggests that the company will have to reconsider its options. A sensible step would be for HECO to examine its energy planning with a view toward the future and to adopt more modern systems to meet consumer demands.
Unless the state Board of Land and Natural Resources ignores the findings and opinions of its hearings officer, it is unlikely it will approve HECO's bid for a permit to install the 138,000-volt transmission line. The line would link the Pukele substation in Palolo Valley to the Kamoku substation in Moiliili, 3.8 miles away. Steel poles 100 feet or higher would be put up along the ridge, which opponents said would mar the view and intrude on the area's conservation district. They further argued that the complex would interfere with recreational and cultural activities.
HECO contended that the project was needed to ensure service to its customers and to prevent massive power failures, a point disputed by the hearings officer, retired Circuit Judge E. John McConnell. McConnell reported that HECO had "substantially overstated" the need for the $31 million project. He cited the company's own previous assessments that the reliability gained from the lines would not justify the costs involved. Moreover, improvements the company has already made in its operations would negate the need for the line, he said, and HECO rates its reliability at 99.98 percent.
Hawaiian Electric clearly has the responsibility of providing reliable power service to its customers, but it also has an obligation to seek out new methods to generate, store, distribute and manage power. Miles of wire draped across the landscape from centralized power facilities is considered an obsolete mode for distribution. It leaves power systems vulnerable to weather conditions and wear. The Sept. 11 terrorist attacks certainly should give HECO officials pause; exposed power lines and elevated poles are easy targets for those bent on disrupting order.
Technology and marketplace incentives are accelerating energy production and distribution methods beyond the traditional service that companies like Hawaiian Electric provide. A 1999 U.S. Department of Energy report emphasizes that reliability of such systems remains uncertain, and encourages government agencies to examine alternatives. To that end, a bill before the Legislature calls for a statewide audit to analyze generation and distribution of electrical power in Hawaii and recommend changes that would reflect the fast-developing advancements in the industry.
The Waahila Ridge system would require consumers to pay for old technology well after it is installed and gives HECO little incentive to move in other directions. Doing things the way they have always been done will mortgage Hawaii's energy future.
BACK TO TOP
|
State laws earn praise
for managing gunsThe issue: Hawaii's laws are
among the best to absorb the
post-Sept. 11 influx in gun sales.ONE segment of the American economy that prospered in the months following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was the firearms industry. Thousands of people instinctively armed themselves in face of the national threat. In doing so, many may have placed their children in danger by failing to take necessary precautions.
Hawaii's laws aimed at preventing children from having access to guns are better than those in most states. However, improvements are needed to provide greater protection against accidents. Children are more vulnerable than they were five months ago because of the sheer number of guns in homes.
In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks, Ithaca Gun Co. produced its "Homeland Security" model for "our current time of national need." In one October day, wholesalers bought 2,000 of Beretta's "United We Stand" 9 mm pistols with laser-etched American flags. FBI background checks of gun purchasers rose by as much as 22 percent in September, October and November.
Hawaii received high marks recently from the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, earning a grade of A- on the basis of existing state gun-control laws. Hawaii earned grades of B+ or better for its age limits of 18 for purchasing handguns and 16 for other firearms, requiring parental permission for sales or transfers to those under 21 and 18 respectively, allowing more strict local gun-control rules at local levels and requiring "private" gun-sale background checks, such as those at gun shows.
Storing or leaving a firearm within reach or easy access of a child under 16 years of age is only a misdemeanor in Hawaii, drawing mild criticism from the Brady Campaign. Also, Hawaii's requirements of child-safety locks and restrictions on Saturday night specials are less stringent than in states that include safety design features such as load indicators and magazine safety disconnects.
The gun industry has been in decline during the last 30 years, due in recent years to a prosperous mainland economy and low crime rates. Because of that and the 1994 Brady Law requiring background checks before firearm purchases, gun deaths in the United States have dropped 27 percent.
However, the recent surge in gun sales put weapons into the hands of numerous Americans with insufficient training in handling guns. "We will see the ultimate consequences of that down the road when we see death and injuries that are associated with the proliferation of handguns," warns Tom Diaz of the Violence Policy Center, a nonprofit gun-control group in Washington.
BACK TO TOP
Published by Oahu Publications Inc., a subsidiary of Black Press.Don Kendall, Publisher
Frank Bridgewater, managing editor 529-4791; fbridgewater@starbulletin.com
Michael Rovner, assistant managing editor 529-4768; mrovner@starbulletin.com
Lucy Young-Oda, assistant managing editor 529-4762; lyoungoda@starbulletin.comJohn Flanagan, contributing editor 294-3533; jflanagan@starbulletin.com
The Honolulu Star-Bulletin (USPS 249460) is published daily by
Oahu Publications at 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, Hawaii 96813.
Periodicals postage paid at Honolulu, Hawaii. Postmaster: Send address changes to
Star-Bulletin, P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, Hawaii 96802.
