HECO bid to up coal use denied

The state Public Utilities Commission denied Hawaiian Electric Co.’s request to boost its use of coal.

The PUC said in an order Wednesday that HECO’s request to increase the electricity supplied by AES Hawaii — the only coal-fired plant on Oahu — was inconsistent with the state’s renewable-energy goal.

In January 2016 HECO requested to amend its contract with AES to increase the capacity from the coal facility to 189 megawatts from 180 megawatts supplied with the current contract. HECO would have paid AES between 5.2 and 6.4 cents per kilowatt-hour for the added power. HECO said the utility is not required to buy the additional energy from AES, but that it’s there only for backup.

Coal releases more carbon dioxide than oil when burned to produce a given amount of electricity. Coal is generally considered cheaper than oil.

Clean-energy nonprofit Blue Planet Foundation said the change would increase greenhouse gas emissions up to 71,344 tons over the term of the contract.

Hawaiian tops in world for punctuality

Hawaiian Airlines ranked first in the world for punctuality last year with 89.9 percent of its flights arriving on time, according to a report released Wednesday by air travel intelligence company OAG. A flight is considered “on time” if it arrives or departs within 15 minutes of its scheduled time.