HomeMy WebLinkAboutINDIVIDUAL COMMENT EMAIL - 128480Mori, Ashley
From:
Sent: Tuesday, October 15, 2019 10:51 AM o
To:Planning Internet Mail
Subject: General Plan
To: BI Planning Dept
From:
Subj:General Plan G
Aloha Planning Dept,
I have written this doc from correspondence with Steve Holmes(see bio below)and hope you use it as an ACTION PLAN:which be used with-'
the General Plan(eg all areas ofenergy efficiency and generation of energy should follow the different mechanisms which doesn't cost the county
nor its rate payers anything and other ideas where the county can actually sell produces(recycled water,methane)
The Big Island has suffered from the multidimensional effects ofKilauea and Lane. Through slight of hand book keeping the County has
erased its 2018 deficit(lost ofearnings from property tax,all the other cost eg overtime cost of police and first responders etc). However
we are looking at least a $19 million deficit next year.
Hawaii was the first state in the nation to legislate 100%renewable energy by 2045(but we can do sooner).
The City and County Administrations are requested to create a Climate Action Plan(CAP)that establishes comprehensive milestones to
transition the State to 100%renewable energy by 2045
I am also a volunteer member of 350HI. 350 is an international non profit,that seeks to stop fossil fuels,stabilize our climate and use
renewable/efficiency as the way forward.
350HI hopes that all Hawaii Counties will pass resolutionswhich places a moratorium on all new fossil fuel infrastructure See resolution
for HI County below.
The following suggestions come from Steve Holmes who started his energy career on the Big Island(Steve had many titles over his professional life
in Hawaii,he was the Energy County Coordinator-working out of Hilo;the Energy&Sustainability Coordinator for Honolulu;he helped found
the RebuildHawaii Consortium under the US Department of Energy and was President of the statewide group. He was also a founding member of
the Hawaii Energy Policy Forum;his city program,Sustainable Honolulu won the US Conference of Mayor's top LivabilityAwardfor Large
Cities and went on to win the UnitedNation's Livability Award the same year. He was selected by US Dept.of Energy as National Energy
Champion in 2002-).
Steve has suggested a plan of action for the Big Island. Please see bullet points below that create great savings and reduce green house gases at NO
COST TO THE TAXPAYER&some projects even create INCOME!! Here are three areas of action which will complement our Resolution.
1. Retrofit County facilities with energy efficiency and solar using ESPCs(Energy Saving Performance Contract)*.
ESPCs can structure your savings with no upfront cost and create immediate savings. All the new energy efficient technologies eg LED lights etc
are purchased by the consultancy firm. The County has initiated a number of ESPC's but they can do a lot more to continue reducing electric bills
and becoming more efficient. The main thing to remember is that the economy of scale eg purchasing for all County Schools and agencies as
opposed to only a few will garnish greater returns. An example ofthis is when Maui County implemented a RFP(Request for Proposal)&a PPA
Power Purchase Agreement)and created a third party financed solar/efficiency project,for all their facilities.They got a great rate(16
cents/KWH)as a result of scale.Unfortunately,Hawaii County decided to cherry pick and only did a few projects like the police and fire stations in
Waimea,the West Hawaii Civic Center,and the Civic Center in Hilo.The Council should borrow the latest Solar RFP from Maui and expand this
islandwide. Yes under a RFP coupled with a PPA(Power Purchase Agreement)all the PV/Solar we acquire is free!
2.Commit to 100%renewables.The sooner we switch,the sooner County electric bills go down.The County can do Community Solar in
conjunction with new or existing County Housing projects(this could be done for the displaced PahoalVolcano residence). Also the new 75 unit
senior housing project,incorporating energy efficient and solar aided project which could receive public private partnership. All new housing should
be sited to take full advantage of solar accessibility.Maui and Kauai have recently implemented huge solar project with no cost to taxpayers via RFP
Request for Proposal)and PPA(Power Purchase Agreement).
3.Re Solid Waste:Use landfill methane to power a fleet of vehicles.(see below)or use the methane to power generators to charge electric
vehicles. Soon all Hilo's solid waste(SW)will be trucked to Kona. This is going to add to our budget deficit. However we should follow what
Oahu has done.
Capture Methane Gas: Honolulu recently entered into contract with Hawaii Gas(HG)to retrofit the Honouliuli Wastewater Treatment Plant for
biomethane production.HG will retrofit digesters at no cost to the City,operate the digesters to maximize gas output and reduce solids,and Honolulu
will receive$3 million per year in revenue.Honolulu has also created a public private partnership with Synagro which has installed digesters at the
Sand Island Treatment Plant which dries sludge and pellitizes it as a fertilizer.Again,no cost to taxpayers.The Kailua Wastewater Plant has done a
large energy retrofit and installed a solar array using the same hybrid energy performance contracting model that the State is using.No upfront cost to
taxpayers and the energy savings pays for it all.
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The path for Hawaii County is to do the same with landfills and wastewater plants. The County could negotiate with EPA Landfill Methane
Outreach Program. EPA LMOP would start with computer modeling to determine feasibility and then work with Hawaii County and qualified
companies like Hawaii Gas and Waste Management could put together a biomethane project.
Ifthe project goes ahead it would be No cost to taxpayers and it prevents all that methane from leaking into the atmosphere(methane is roughly 30
times more potent than CO2). We could create a private/public partnership with EPA LMOP and Hawaii Gas for gas recovery.
Hawaii County is poised to ship all their trash to West Hawaii as the Hilo Landfill is closed.This is adding to the budget deficit for the Big
Island. Hawaii County contracts with Waste Management(WM)to run the West Hawaii operation.
WM also runs a similar project in Bremerton WA. However the difference is that WM runs their fleet of trash trucks on CNG(methane gas)from
their landfill operation.
Why not contract with WM to bring their own CNG converted trucks to Hawaii and the County can sell them the methane to run their fleet?
In the future we could use the CNG gas to power generators to charge our electric fleet(Hawaii has already committed to 100%electric vehicles in
the future). The key is to utilize methane,recognize it as a resource,not a liability and put it to work to create profits!
By utilizing mechanism like PPA(Power Purchase Agreement),RFP(Request for Proposal),ESPC(Energy Saving Performance Contract);FEMP
Federal Energy Management Program)along with GSA(General Services Administration)combined to create a plug and play expedited process
for government agencies wanting to use ESPCs.It leverages the entire purchasing power ofthe US Government.No more writing detailed bid specs
or going through lengthy purchasing requirements.A one stop shop for energy savings. I spoke with a rep from Hawaii Energy who can come to our
meeting to show you the savings Hawaii County can make by following some ofthese efficiency measures.
To design these efficiency/conservation/renewable projects we can use Hawaii Energy(a PUC funded program)to act as a one stop shop for County
ESPCs.Having City employees doing this is just stupid.They don't have training or expertise.
Hawaii Energy has this as their exclusive mission.Additionally,Hawaii Energy has rebate incentives.Who better to leverage these than their own
team?
The State Energy Office keeps a pre-approved list of qualified firms like Johnson Control and Honeywell.They audit your(County's)facilities
and put together a package of energy efficiency upgrades that will create savings and pay for themselves.
The contracts include monitoring and verification ofenergy savings as they have to write you a check ifthe savings aren't there.It prevents them
from from putting in cheap junk that fails.They leverage tax exempt bond financidg for government projects,but these are stand alone and don't
affect government bond ratings.Costs under state law can be spread out over 20 years if necessary to accommodate things like air conditioningretrofitswithlongerpaybacks.
There are some USDA RUS grant funds that can be used for solar.Hawaii County received millions of dollars in USDA RUS funds for sewer lines
in Kona. .
So the above actions and examples are some ways that we can make the Big Island leaner(more energy efficient)while getting funding via ESPC,
RFP,PPA etc AT NO COST TO THE TAXPAYERS! I hope we can discuss this further.
350HI has gathered over 200 signatures on our petition from Big Islanders who request that the County Council introduces the 350HI resolution on a
moratorium of fossil fuel infrastructure,which complements the above strategies.
ESPC is written into state procurement law.Allows counties to go around normal procurement process for these projects as the savings are
guaranteed.ESPCs and PPAs(power purchase agreements)work because of the US Tax Code(federal and state tax credits for solar/efficiency is
65%).Under an ESPC&PPAs,investors get to write off tax depreciation on the assets for 5 years.They own the equipment in your building during
that time.They own it and maintain it.Which is a good thing.Government agencies therefore leverage tax depreciation by using this third party
financing approach.When you run the numbers,it makes no sense to have government float bonds and do these projects themselves.Use someone
else's money.The ESPC also handles all bid specs and construction management costs.They have expertise that government agencies don't have
and can move faster.They have better purchasing power as well.They get better prices.
Hawaii Energy(HE-a PUC funded program)acts as a one stop shop for County ESPCs(Energy Saving Performance Contract);and
coordinates with FEMP(Federal Energy Management Program)and GSA(General Services Administration),so no more writing detailed
bid specs or going through lengthy purchasing requirements.HE is one stop shop for energy savings. HE also has rebate incentives
purchasing energy efficient technology).
mahalo
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