Kona power plant KEALAKEKUA, Hawaii >> A Kona judge has again refused to allow the Big Island's Hawaii Electric Light Co. to finish building a $100 million power plant in Kona.
request denied
A judge cites improper approval in
rejecting the plant's completionBy Rod Thompson
rthompson@starbulletin.comCircuit Judge Ronald Ibarra's ruling came in the afternoon just as Helco was making a public announcement that it might have to start deliberate power shutoffs, called rolling blackouts, in the evening due to a power shortage. But there were no blackouts yesterday.
Helco said it was short of power because of problems at three separate power feeder companies over which it has no control.
Ibarra ruled last month in the case brought by the Keahole Defense Coalition that Helco cannot finish the work, more than 75 percent complete, because the state Board of Land & Natural Resources improperly gave Helco a time extension to the end of next year to finish the job.
Ibarra said the board did not have authority to grant the extension and did not give opponents of the 56-megawatt power plant a fair hearing.
Ibarra affirmed his earlier ruling yesterday.
Helco President Warren Lee said the company will appeal to the state Supreme Court.
Yesterday's immediate power-feeder company problem was at Hamakua Energy Partners, where an oil pump broke. Half of that company's 60-megawatt capacity was useless until the pump was repaired during the peak evening need.
Hilo Coast Power Co. was in the middle of a four-week maintenance shutdown, producing none of its 22 megawatts.
South of Hilo, Puna Geothermal Venture was producing only 5 megawatts instead of its normal 30 because its main supply well is plugged. The company has to drill a new well, which will not be done until early December, Lee said.
In total, 79 megawatts were missing from the 170 megawatts Helco needed, said company official Miles Nagata.
To try to make up the difference, Helco pulled aging, decaying equipment of its own out of standby. "We are running everything we've got," Lee said.
It added up to 160 megawatts, not enough, Nagata said. Helco asked big power users to turn off some equipment. That brought the need down to the 160-megawatt level, and the island just squeaked by without blackouts.
County of Hawaii
