In late 2008, shortly after he took command of Marine Corps Base Hawaii, Col. Robert Rice made a bold proclamation: He wanted the base to be energy self-sufficient by 2015.

As he prepares to leave the Corps after 29 years, handing off the command yesterday to Col. Jeffrey Woods, Rice believes the Marines will make the energy goal.

The military overall has a mandate to reduce fossil fuel use, but Rice’s time line is more ambitious than most.

Woods joins Marine Corps Base Hawaii from Marine Forces Pacific at Camp Smith, where he was the operations officer, at a time when the base also is planning to double its aircraft contingent.

Rice said a "request for proposal" is out for up to 15 megawatts of solar power, and the base will be pursuing a 30-megawatt biofuel plant to be run on locally grown stock.

"We’re going to get really close (to the energy efficiency goal) in 2014 if things stay on track, and we’ll be there by 2015," he said.

The solar energy will come from panels on rooftops and on carports, he said.

Rice, 50, said the base uses between 15 and 18 megawatts of power daily and had a $19 million electric bill last year.

Marine Corps Base Hawaii, which includes military personnel at Camp Smith and other locations, has about 15,500 active-duty military members, he said. The Kaneohe Bay base houses about 9,500 Marines and sailors.

In the nearly 2 1/2 years Rice has been base commander, he has developed a reputation as a renewable-energy crusader and active community member.

The main post exchange and some retail outlets on base eliminated plastic bags in 2009 as Rice sought to reduce plastic litter and bags ending up in the landfill.

"We’re going to miss him," said Charlie Ota, vice president of military affairs at the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii. "I think he was a good commander for the Windward side. He did a lot of work with the community."

Rice is retiring from the Corps and has taken a job as city manager of Syracuse, Utah, a community of about 24,000 people. He starts Feb. 3.

"I really loved what I did here, and I kind of sat back and decided I wanted to do one of two things: get into local government or get into the renewable-energy business," Rice said.

Rice said he had to find a city willing to take a chance on a retired officer with lots of experience running a military community, and Syracuse hired him.

Woods, Rice’s successor, will be involved with a Marine Corps plan to base 24 MV-22 tilt-rotor Osprey aircraft at Kaneohe Bay, along with 18 Cobra attack helicopters and nine Huey helicopters as part of a larger plan that will radically change the aircraft makeup at the air station.

The distinctive Ospreys, with 38-foot twin rotors that allow the aircraft to take off like a helicopter and then rotate forward to become giant propellers, make it possible for the aircraft to fly much faster than helicopters.

The basing is part of a plan by the Marines to restructure and re-base its forces in the Pacific. Approximately 1,000 personnel and 1,100 dependents would be added starting in 2012, with "full implementation" of the basing plan by 2018, the Corps said.

The Navy finalized a plan in late 2009 to replace all but three of the 27 propeller-driven P-3C Orion surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft at Kaneohe Bay with 18 P-8A Poseidon multimission jet aircraft based on the Boeing 737-800 but with strengthened wings, weapons systems and added fuel tanks.

The move to Poseidon surveillance aircraft would result in fewer airplanes and personnel at the Marine Corps base, slightly more noise and an investment of $147.5 million for infrastructure upgrades, the Navy said.

Rice said the first squadron of Ospreys should arrive about 2014, with the second squadron arriving a year later.

Huey and Cobra helicopters are expected in 2012 and 2013, while the P-8A might make an appearance in the 2015-to-2016 time frame, he said.

"From now until 2016, 2017, the aircraft mix aboard the base will change completely," Rice said.