Waahila Ridge
plan zapped

HECO's plan to string high-voltage
power lines there is rejected

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By Diana Leone
dleone@starbulletin.com

Hawaiian Electric Co. cannot build high-voltage power lines on Waahila Ridge state conservation land, the state Board of Land & Natural Resources ruled yesterday.

In denying HECO's request to put new 138-kilovolt lines on steel poles for the proposed Kamoku-Pukele power line, the Land Board said the "project has significant impacts which cannot be sufficiently mitigated."

HECO spokesman Chuck Freedman said it was "highly unlikely" that the company would appeal the board's decision.

Instead, HECO will ask the Public Utilities Commission to make a determination of need for a line connecting the Kamoku and Pukele stations.

"Rather than continuing to seek a permit for a particular alignment ... we will now step back and instead petition the Public Utilities Commission," Freedman said.

Such a line is needed, Freedman said, "to protect against cataclysmic failure, when huge blocks of power are lost, possibly for long periods of time."

"If they do anything but drop it, we will fight them tooth and nail to the end," said Life of the Land Executive Director Henry Curtis. "Our power is very reliable right now -- 99.98 percent reliable, more reliable than mainland. The only reason to build this line is to give money to HECO's stockholders."

The Outdoor Circle, Life of the Land and Malama O Manoa have argued that the power line is not needed and that, if built, it would harm scenic views of the ridge.

The groups said they were pleased with yesterday's decision, which referred to the Land Board's constitutional obligation to "conserve and protect Hawaii's natural beauty and all natural resources."

"I'm not at all surprised," said Mary Steiner, the Outdoor Circle's chief executive officer. "I think we had an airtight case."

In the eight years HECO has sought the line on Waahila Ridge, community members have repeatedly questioned whether it was really needed, Freedman said.

Freedman said he does not know when HECO will ask the PUC for a determination of need, or how long that process will take. He stressed that it would be the first time HECO has sought a determination of need for a project without specific construction plans.

Steiner said she welcomes HECO taking its argument to the PUC, where she predicts it will lose again.

"At the contested-case hearing, HECO was asked numerous times what the probability was of that 'cataclysmic' failure happening," Steiner said. "They were never able to answer the question."

"We strongly feel there is no need for this line, and we've made that case," Steiner said. "I think that HECO is unwilling to give up at this point, and they should just throw in the towel."

Curtis agreed, saying, "I don't think the PUC would determine a need (for the project) now, because it would change the way they do things."

Curtis called the board's ruling "a victory for the people, the environment and the economy."

Steiner said she believes the case is a turning point and should convince HECO that "what the community believes and feels counts."

"It's about time that we're able stop our power company from having all the power," Steiner said.

Malama O Manoa President Barbara Lowe said opposition to replacing existing power lines on wooden poles with high-voltage lines was not "just a back-yard NIMBY (not in my back yard) thing, but islandwide, nationwide, we've gotten support."

Lowe said community support in the form of donations, letter-writing and sign-waving have made a difference.

Waahila Ridge, which separates Manoa and Palolo valleys, is listed as one of America's 11 most endangered historic places, according to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. According to Hawaiian legend, the profile of the sleeping giant Kauhi can be seen in the ridge's outline against the sky. That profile would have been marred by larger power poles, opponents said.

Land Board Chairman Gilbert Coloma-Agaran and board members Fred Holschuh, Tim Johns and Lynn McCrory voted to deny HECO use of the conservation land, while member Ted Yamamura dissented, saying he would have granted HECO permission to build the lines, with "appropriate mitigation." Member Kathryn Inouye was absent.

City Councilwoman Ann Kobayashi and state Rep. Brian Schatz, who represent the Manoa area, praised the Land Board decision.

"It'll be so nice to know that every day when I drive home, I can enjoy looking at the ridge," Kobayashi said.

The ruling, she said, "will help us look at alternative energy, if necessary, and conservation."