Developer wants
Heco plant goneThe power generator doesn't fit
into Ken Hughes' plans for the
waterfront around Aloha Tower
Destroying or moving the Hawaiian Electric Co. generating plant on the Honolulu waterfront is once again under discussion, as plans move forward for a commercial and residential complex on nearby Piers 5 and 6.
Meetings with Heco have taken place, but talks are very preliminary, said Dan Orodenker, a project director at the Aloha Tower Development Corp.
Heco needs a plant downtown in case a hurricane or tsunami destroys connections between the main power generating systems west of the city and the downtown business district, Orodenker told an ATDC meeting yesterday. The utility also is concerned about having to pass a $200 million construction cost over to electricity ratepayers, he said.
But Texas developer Ken Hughes, whose Dallas-based UC Urban was selected in February as the only developer ATDC will negotiate with for the waterfront project, wants to see it gone.
Hughes has said he favors a hotel-residential-office complex running from the shoreline out to Ala Moana, based around a transit hub connecting eventually with Honolulu Airport and Waikiki.
In his vision, the Heco plant does not belong.
Anyone who looks at the Aloha Tower development area will raise questions about whether the Heco plant belongs there, said ATDC board member Ted Liu, director of the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism. But, he added, there have been only preliminary discussions with the electric company, the city and others and "we are nowhere near close to talking about details."
Hawaiian Electric's long-term energy plan calls for continuing to produce power from the Honolulu power plant at least until 2024, said a spokesman for the utility, Fred Kobashikawa.
"If we retire a plant such as this we would need to immediately add 110 megawatts" of production somewhere else, he said.
Malcolm Tom, city deputy managing director, said he has been at some of the meetings and has heard what Hughes is thinking.
He said the city likes the idea of a residential-commercial development on the docks but he worries that the notion of creating a transit terminal at Aloha Tower might cause needless delays.
The city has worked on mass transit plans for years, he said, and all of them are expensive. It could cost $1.5 billion to build a mass transit line from the airport to Waikiki and if any federal funding is involved it could take 10 years before the first spade hits the ground.
He would not like to see a $200 million development project delayed because of a $1.5 billion transit program, Tom said.
Hughes is expected to come to Honolulu late this month to make a refined pitch for his plan at an ATDC meeting and to meet with state and city officials.