Two Geothermal Bills Move Forward on Big Island

Leslie Blodgett, GEA
June 13, 2012 | 5 Comments

This week, a pair of geothermal bills proposed by council Chairman Dominic Yagong received the first of two required approvals from the Hawai'i County Council. One bill would affect how the Big Island spends geothermal royalties. The second bill would mandate evacuation plans for current and future facilities. The two bills passed by votes of 5-4 and 8-1, respectively.

The county gets ~$500,000 a year in revenue from Puna Geothermal Venture, the island’s geothermal power plant, which it uses to address community geothermal-related issues, but also to fund capital projects and services in lower Puna (including the Pahoa council office and security at Isaac Hale Beach Park and Pahoa Community Center). The bill (No. 256-12) would limit those funds to issues related to the plant itself, such as air quality monitoring, health studies, and relocations.

The program relocating residents away from PGV began in the 1980s. The county has bought eight properties through the relocation program at up to 130 percent value which it then sells through auction. A resident relocation was approved May 11, with the last approval before that in 2005. Yagong’s legislation prevents any new properties acquired through the program from being auctioned and only allows homeowners within a mile of the plant to be eligible creating, a buffer zone around the plant. PGV Manager Michael Kaleikini said the state Department of Health does not consider the plant a health hazard, he was quoted during testimony.

This article was originally published in Geothermal Energy Weekly and was republished with permission.

Image: Hawaii landscape via Shutterstock

5 Comments

ANONYMOUS
June 25, 2012

Gentlemen, all of your comments are correct education is the key to understanding the benefits of future renewable energy source such as geothermal. As a New Zealander and my personal belief is, and I must plug their recent merge into geothermal generation market, this renewable source energy is sustainable for many years to come under the correct guardianship. New Zealand’s largest renewable energy company has seen this potential for many years, and in doing so have developed a unique working model with the local iwi. This has been achieve through Joint Venture developments with local iwi trusts and is seen as a win win situation for all parties involved. So there huge potential for the same to type of process to happen within you own Island groups I would have thought. Joint Ventures developments in Chile are also been progressing with this NZ business where the Chilean Govt are indeed looking at utilisation of this geothermal resource, and in doing so have ensured that this is plausible without impacting on their tourist market, which has been there biggest concern in the development process, similar to what I would have thought maybe of the issue in Hawai’i, so the possibilities are endless.

Pedro Gutierrez
June 22, 2012

Manuel Moraleda- I fully agree regarding your mention on education, this is a fundamental factor for changes. In my opinion it should be the duty of governments, social/political organizations, schools, and every one who wants to leave for the generations to come, a planet clean and healthier. Unfortunately, the economical interest of the fossil fuels cartel, and their followers, are so influential that any atempt of changes toward clean energies, is very difficult to achieve. However, I think we have to rise our voice whenever is necessary, to defend the right of humanity to a clean air, clean water and not contaminated food

Manuel Moraleda
June 15, 2012

Douglas - The people of Hawaii should learn about Iceland before geothermal was utilized when it was heavily dependent on fossil source. I've seen pictures when the air there was heavily polluted. I truly believe that Hawaii is the tropical equivalent of Iceland. I see geothermal energy as a nature's gift that's non-polluting, non-imported, and readily accessible for Hawaiians. I wonder as to whose job is it to 'educate' folks about geothermal energy. Is it the school ? Is it the Department of Energy ? Is it the Office of the Governor ?

Douglas Prince
June 15, 2012

Manuel - That's true. However, as you know, that geothermal is based on the island's volcanic activity, and there is still a lot of That Olde Time Religion on the islands. A lot of locals simply don't want to do anything with the volcanoes that may upset the local gods and goddesses. Seriously, it's a big consideration out there when someone starts talking about building a geothermal or wind system.

Manuel Moraleda
June 15, 2012

It's my impression that the whole State of Hawaii can obtain its electrical energy needs from geothermal source which are quite plentiful like a low hanging fruit.

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Leslie Blodgett

Leslie keeps up on the geothermal industry to contribute to the Geothermal Energy Association's weekly newsletter, reports, events, and initiatives. Previously she edited for the American Geophysical Union's peer-reviewed journals.