Big Island energy firm to protest on Maui

Maui-based members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 142 will be joined today by employees from Honua Ola Bioenergy on the Big Island and members of other Maui unions to protest the state Public Utilities Commission’s 2-1 majority decision denying Honua Ola’s power purchase agreement with Hawaiian Electric.

The protest, which also will advocate the need to support jobs for local families, follows a similar rally held June 3 on Oahu. The protests follow a May 23 decision by the state agency in which PUC Commissioner Jennifer Potter — a resident of Maui — joined PUC Chair James Griffin, who is leaving his position June 30, to deny Honua Ola from operating a biomass plant in Pepeekeo that would burn eucalyptus trees to generate electricity. On June 6, Honua Ola filed a motion with the PUC seeking reconsideration, clarification and a further hearing in an attempt to reverse the agency’s decision. That appeal is currently under review.

PUC Commissioner Leodoloff Asuncion filed a dissent in opposition to the majority decision stating that Honua Ola had met its burden for approval based on the requirements the Hawaii Supreme Court conveyed to the PUC. The PUC said in its decision that Hu Honua should not be granted an amended power purchase agreement with Hawaiian Electric because the project will produce “significant” greenhouse gas emissions. The commission also found that the amended power agreement is likely to result in high costs to ratepayers.