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The developer of a proposed wind energy project on Lanai has asked the state Public Utilities Commission for permission to keep confidential information it will be submitting to the agency as part of a regulatory review of the project.
Lawyers for Castle & Cooke Properties Inc. filed the "protective order" request Monday, saying the company anticipated submitting documents that could "disadvantage Castle & Cooke by revealing confidential proprietary information to its competitors and/or to entities with whom it may seek to negotiate arms-length business transactions."
Documents filed with the PUC are normally open to the public except in cases where the agency has granted a protective order to prevent the disclosure of information deemed confidential, such as trade secrets, proprietary research and bid information. Documents filed under a protective order usually have selected passages blacked out, and in some cases the entire document is withheld from public view.
The PUC in July opened a new case to review the progress of Castle & Cooke’s original proposal submitted in 2008 to develop a 200-megawatt wind energy project on Lanai and have the electricity transmitted to Oahu via an undersea cable. The PUC said it wanted a formal review due to several major developments affecting the project, including Castle & Cooke’s sale of its majority ownership stake in Lanai to billionaire Oracle CEO Larry Ellison.
Castle & Cooke said it retained the rights to develop the wind project as part of its sales agreement with Ellison. However, PUC officials have said there is "some uncertainty" regarding that claim.
At least seven entities, including two energy developers, two community groups, a renewable-energy organization and two private citizens, have filed requests with the PUC to intervene in the case. If approved as interveners, those entities would have access to confidential information covered by a potential protective order.
Castle & Cooke has opposed all intervention requests except for one filed by Hawai‘i Interisland Cable. HIC is a joint venture between Honolulu-based Bio-Logical Capital and San Fransisco-based Pattern Energy Group formed to "explore the opportunity to interconnect Hawaiian Islands via electric transmission cable systems in a responsible manner," according to the company’s website.
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