The Hawaii National Guard is supporting a bill to improve the more than 70-year-old electrical system at Kalaeloa, saying it pays the Navy more than $600,000 a year for overly expensive electricity but experiences periodic brownouts and power outages that hamper operations.

The concern comes with the Army National Guard consolidating the vast majority of its units at Kalaeloa as well as plans to establish a Black Hawk medevac unit with three helicopters there in 2017.

The Hawaii Community Development Authority, meanwhile, which oversees the old Barbers Point Naval Air Station, said it is asking the state Legislature this year for $6 million for the Kalaeloa Enterprise Energy Corridor, which would benefit the National Guard, FBI and Kalaeloa airport.

House Bill 2047 prods HCDA to complete a larger Kalaeloa Energy Corridor project and submit annual progress reports, as well as requiring underground utility duct lines along Fort Barrette Road and Enterprise Avenue.

Maj. Gen. Arthur J. Logan, state adjutant general, said in written testimony that he supports the bill.

“This measure will improve the electrical infrastructure at Kalaeloa,” Logan said. “The existing Navy legacy system is incompatible with (the) Hawaiian Electric grid and must be upgraded.”

Failure to complete the energy upgrade “may hinder the construction of new Guard facilities and development of other impacted Kalaeloa areas,” Logan said.

The bill states that in 2010 the Kalaeloa infrastructure master plan suggested replacing the old Navy electrical system to serve projected redevelopment needs.

“However, the aging electrical system remains in place today,” the bill says. “Additionally, since the electrical system does not meet standards established by the Hawaiian Electric Co., area businesses and organizations cannot connect to the public utility and instead must purchase electricity from the Navy.”

HCDA’s annual report for 2015 said more funds were needed for the Enterprise corridor project, with bids ranging from $8.1 million to $24.9 million.

The separate Kalaeloa East Energy Corridor project is expected to cost $5.5 million, plus an additional $9 million for Navy easements and surveys, HCDA said.

According to an environmental assessment for the Kalaeloa Energy Corridor, the Navy electrical system was built in the 1930s. In 1999 the Defense Department closed Barbers Point as a naval air station.

Almost every unit related to the 29th Infantry Brigade Combat Team and Army Guard headquarters operates out of Kalaeloa, said Lt. Col. Chuck Anthony, a Hawaii National Guard spokesman. The Hawaii Army Guard has more than 3,000 soldiers, he said.

In February 2015 the National Guard held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $32.6 million aviation support facility at Kalaeloa — one of several projects the Guard has embarked upon at Kalaeloa in recent years. The 67,000-square-foot facility with a hangar to support aircraft is still being built. The National Guard is spending about $100 million on a readiness center started in 2013, the aviation support facility and another building, Anthony said.

Although the Army Guard previously envisioned moving about a dozen CH-47 Chinook helicopters from Wheeler Army Airfield to Kalaeloa, Anthony said the plan is now to keep the Chinooks at Wheeler, where the Guard has a couple of hangars and administrative space.

“But the Chinooks could use that (Kalaeloa) facility for staging,” Anthony said. “In fact, it’s quite likely that the Chinooks would use that location for staging.”

The Hawaii Guard has no other Black Hawks based on Oahu, but it does have six on Hawaii island, with some of those helicopters often being used on Oahu, Anthony said.

“It’s pretty important that they do upgrade the electrical system for a couple reasons,” Anthony said. “One, it is hard to do business when you are under a brownout condition. It impacts everybody’s computers. … Two, obviously, we’d still be paying something for electricity (from HECO), but $600,000 could be utilized in a lot of other areas.”

The HCDA knows there are a lot of brownouts and unstable power for the National Guard, the FBI and Kalaeloa airport, “so we’ve been trying to get this (electrical corridor) project off the ground for a couple years now,” said Lindsey Doi, compliance assurance and community outreach officer for HCDA.

“We’re hoping this extra $6 million we’re asking for this session will get it done and finally be able to provide reliable energy for everybody out there,” Doi said.