HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-01-20 THELCO
PLANNING COMMISSION
COUNTY OF HAWAII
HEARING TRANSCRIPT
January 20, 2006
HAWAII ELECTRIC LIGHT
A regularly advertised hearing on the application of
COMPANY, INC. (REZ 05-025)
was called to order at 4:12 p.m. at the Outrigger Keauhou
Beach Resort, 78-6740 Alii Drive, Keauhou, Hawaii with Chairman C. Kimo Alameda
presiding.
PRESENT:C. Kimo AlamedaABSENT & EXCUSED: Allen Salavea
Jeffrey McCall
Rene Siracusa
Hannah Springer
Fred Galdones
Chris Yuen, DeputyPlanning Director
Norman Hayashi, Planning Program Manager
Phyllis Fujimoto, Staff Planner
Jeff Darrow, Staff Planner
Ivan Torigoe, Deputy Corporation Counsel
And approximately 10 people from the public in attendance.
APPLICANT: HAWAII ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY, INC. (REZ 05-025)
Change of Zone from an Open (O) to a General Industrial 15-acre (MG-15a) district for 15.643
acres of land. The property is the site of the existing Keahole power plant located east of Queen
KaahumanuHighwayandtheKonaInternationalAirportatKeahole,Keahole,NorthKona,
Hawaii, TMK: 7-3-49: 36 and 37.
ALAMEDA:All right. Moving right along to New Business. Agenda item number 8,
applicant Hawaii Electric Light Company, Incorporated. This is a rezoning 05-025. Mr.
Hayashi?
HAYASHI:Thank you Mr. Chair. Members of the Commission. Referring to the
overall location map, the subject property is indicated by this yellow dot. It is situated mauka of
the Queen Kaahumanu Highway adjacent and to the north of the Keahole Agricultural Park. The
Kona International Airport at Keahole is indicated by this gray shaded area and situated across
on the makai side of the subject property. This particular area is the Kona Palisades subdivision
that runs makai from the Mamalahoa Highway. This particular roadway is the Kaiminani Road
that provides mauka-makai access between Highway 190 and the Queen Kaahumanu Highway.
Just as a matter of information this particular area is the area that we will be hearing next and
that will be the Hiluhilu Developments property. The colors of the map indicate the various
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zoned districts. The green, darker green areas along Queen Kaahumanu Highway are areas that
are zoned open. We also have agriculture 5-acre zoned lands, these are lands that are within the
Keahole agricultural park. Also along Kaiminani Drive there are areas that are zoned for
residential and developed with residential lots or are proposed to be developed for residential
purposes. The brown shaded areas are areas that are designated multiple residential. There are
two lots are involved in this particular request. And if I may refer to this particular map which is
the overall Keahole Generating Stations and airport substation plot plan. First of all there is a
small 0.6-acre property, which is the airport substation property. And the bigger area, which is
14.9 acres, which basically is the generating plant. The applicant recently went through a State
Land Use Boundary Amendment from a conservation to a urban designation with the Land Use
Commission. The Land Use Commission granted the request to urbanize the property to place
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the property into the urban district and adopted their findings on November 7 of 2005. All of
you received a copy of the decision and order, which stated thenumerous conditions that the
applicant had to comply with. The Land Use designation for the County is the urban expansion
area. Rather than go into detail the overall project description I would like to defer that to the
applicant and they can explain it to the Commissioners as to what has been proposed. If you
look at the maps on the-, boards on the-, easel. Its been a long day. The first one is a
photograph of the subject property and the current improvements on the property and next to it is
the overall property or site plan. And thats similar to this particular map, site plan thats on the
wall. The primary access to the property will be from or is from Pukiawe Street which comes-.
This is Pukiawe Street and this comes off of Kaiminani Drive. Theres also another access
which is referred to as the Reservoir Road and thats an access thats directly off of, directly
across of the airport access road. Water is available to the property and the wastewater system
will come from for domestic wastewater will be the septic tank and leach field and the industrial
wastes there will be two underground injection wells provided. We did receive 2 letters in
support of the request for zone change and 1 request, the first request was from the Keahole
Defense Coalition sent in by Keichi Ikeda. And the second is a letter from the Department of
Hawaiian Homelands and that one is dated January 10, 2006. I believe all of you have a copy of
those letters. The Planning Director is recommending approval of the zone change including
the-, zone change with conditions including the incorporation of the Land Use conditions that
were imposed by the Land Use Commission. We distributed amended conditions for the
Commissioners consideration. The first one or the first change if you look in the amended
condition is related to Condition C. And the reason why we did away with recommending that,
of deleting that particular condition and the reason for that is that the water commitment has
already been paid. In fact the property, the, obviously as all of you know the facilities already
exist on that particular property. And the second change will be an amendment to condition D,
and that would become a new condition C as a result of deleting condition C which we got in the
water. And that increases the construction timetable from 5 to 10 years. And the reason for the
change is that there are numerous permits, other permits that the applicant would have to obtain
before they can construct. These include the permits from the Environmental Protection Agency,
Department of Health, the State Water Commission as well as the DLNR. So the time for that
maybe lengthier than anticipated and this is why we increased the time from 5 to 10 years as to
the construction completion. And finally, on the floor wed like to change condition D, that will
be the new condition D and the current, now the condition that is submitted to you was that the
applicant shall provide additional landscaping as set forth in the Landscaping Concept Plan. The
applicant has since installed those landscaping. So basically what we want to do is delete the
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word provide and insert maintain the. So the new condition D would state that the applicant
shall maintain the initial landscaping thats set forth in the landscape concept plan. Are there any
questions at this time?
ALAMEDA:Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:How far is the facility from the nearest residence?
HAYASHI:The nearest residence is next door and there are residences abutting the
property.
SIRACUSA:So I assume that they weresent letters.
HAYASHI:Yes, those individuals were notified.
SIRACUSA:Did you get any response from them or are any of them here today?
HAYASHI:Im not aware as to whether they are here or not.
SIRACUSA:Thank you.
ALAMEDA:Commissioner Springer?
SPRINGER:Norman?
HAYASHI:Yes.
SPRINGER:While theres reference to the Landscape Concept Plan in the Findings,
Conclusions, Decision and Order and reference to it in our new Condition D, I didnt see a copy
of it. Is that not for us to deliberate over?
HAYASHI:The landscaping plan, that was made part of the Land Use Commission
Record but it wasnt included as part of this docket I dont believe no, as far as the change of
zone.
SPRINGER:So it is not for us to?
HAYASHI:Well if you want a copy we can send it to you at some point in time.
SPRINGER:Okay thank you.
WATANABE:Follow up question.
YUEN:Do you have it here? We may have it here to circulate.
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HAYASHI:Oh, Im sorry its part of the EIS. You have a copy of the EIS so in the
thick packet that was sent to you.
ALAMEDA:Commissioner Watanabe?
WATANABE:My question would be for the Director. This Concept Landscape Plan, the
one thats already been implemented. Its I guess at the minimum in compliance with the new
Rule 17 Landscape Rule that we implemented just, I guess we approved that the other month
yeah?
YUEN:It would equal or exceed the Rule 17 for Industrial adjoining a residential.
WATANABE:Yeah, thank you.
ALAMEDA:CommissionerGrahamdidyougetachancetolocatethemapwiththe
plan?
SCHICTER:Three fifty seven.
SPRINGER:3-5-7?
SCHICTER:3-57.
SPRINGER:Mr. Chair, Mr. Sichter who hasnt been sworn in yet has indicated to me
that that can be found on 3-57 of the EIS. Thank you.
ALAMEDA:Other Commissioners questions while, as we entertain that question by
Commissioner Springer? Commissioner McCall? I mean Commissioner Graham? Sorry.
GRAHAM:Im wondering if you attune to that photo up there well I just want to try to
match the schematic with the photo. Its look like the photo is looking down at the ocean as best
I can tell. Is the schematic sort of in a similar orientation? It feels a little hard for me to line up
whats what on that maybe itll be easier when the applicant comes up and point out the
correspondences thank you.
ALAMEDA:Anymore questions for Mr. Hayashi before we ask the applicant to come
forward? Seeing none will the applicant or his representative please come forward? Will you all
please raise your right hand? Thank you. Do you affirm or swear to tell the truth now before the
Hawaii County Planning Commission?
TESTIFIERS:I do.
ALAMEDA:Thank you. Lets start with you on my far right. Could you please state
your name and address for the record?
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SICHTER:My name is Lee Sichter. Im the principle Planner with Belt Collins
Hawaii serving as a Planning Consultant to the Hawaii Electric Light Company. My address is
2153 North King Street, Honolulu.
ALAMEDA:Thank you. Go ahead.
KUDO:Benjamin Kudo. Im attorney principal with Imanaka, Kudo, Fujimoto.
Legal counsel to Hawaii Electric Light Company in this matter and my address is Topa Financial
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Center, 17 Floor, 745 Fort Street, Honolulu, Hawaii.
ALAMEDA:Thank you.
LEE:Warren H.W. Lee, President, Hawaii Electric Light Company, 1200
Kilauea Avenue, Hilo, Hawaii, 96721.
ALAMEDA:Thank you. Mr. Sichter would you like to-. Did you get a chance to
review the recommendations made by the department?
SICHTER:Yes.
ALAMEDA:You have any additional comments or questions regarding that?
SICHTER:My I defer that to counsel?
ALAMEDA:Sure.
KUDO:Just for the record Hawaii Electric Light Company has received and
reviewed the Planning Directors background report and amended recommendations in favor of
HELCOs request for a change of zone application for the underlying property from the open to
the general industrial district and we concur with the Directors report and the recommendations
asamended.
ALAMEDA:Thankyou.FellowCommissionersIbelievewehavesomequestionsfor
our applicant at this time. Commissioner Watanabe?
WATANABE:I got a real quick question. Just out of curiosity you know. The schematic
thatyouhandedoutindicatesthatthereisapparentlyanalreadyexistingbrackishwaterwell
pump labeled number 26. But I couldnt find number 26 on this. Is that across the road or
something?
SICHTER:No,ifImaytakeamomenttoorientyoutothephotoandtotheplotplanI
think it might alleviate some concerns.
ALAMEDA:Sure, take the mike with you.
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SICHTER:Thank you. The photo is oriented in the same direction as the plot plan.
The easiest indicators are these 2 large fuel tanks. They appear as items number 1 in the lower
left corner of the plot plan. So the 2 figures are oriented in the same direction. Before I get to
your question Commissioner McCall, I wanted to explain the additional map that was circulated
to you by Planning Staff. We have-, Im the author of the Environmental Impact Statement as
well, it went along with this application. The Environmental Impact Statement was prepared for
the Land Use Classification action, which began in 2004 and ended in 2005. The plot plan was
prepared as part of the draft Environmental Impact Statement, which was dated October 2004,
hence the date on that. And at that time all of the facilities that were identified in blue were
under construction but construction had not yet been completed. The plot plan was replicated in
the final EIS, which was approved by the Land Use Commission and the figure that we presented
to you is simply an update of the plot plan that now identifies that all of the items that were
previously identified in blue, the construction has now been completed. So the only remaining
items are those identified in the light green and those are the items that constitutes proposed
facility.Soyourquestionabouttheitem26,whichisthebrackishwellpump.Item26is
immediately to the left of the fire water storage tank and the service water storage tank identified
as items number 7.
ALAMEDA:Commissioner Watanabe follow up?
WATANABE:No. Thank you.
ALAMEDA:Thank you. Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Thank you. Chapter 2, 2.9.5 and thereon. Naphtha, you have Naphtha
down as an alternative fuel. Im concerned about that because of the flash point because about
the possibility for explosions, ignitable gases that sort of thing. That you need to add stability by
adding an alternative fuel. Could you tell me, is there a certain formula that you use to determine
how much of this alternative fuel and what it might be to add stability to any given amount of
Naphtha?
SICHTER:May I direct your question to Mr. Lee who can-?
SIRACUSA:You may.
SICHTER:Thank you.
ALAMEDA:Mr. Lee?
LEE:Yes. Presently the, let me start with some background information.
Presently the plant, which has existed since 1972 and added on successive years, burns diesel.
Now in our EIS the question, part of the EIS says are there any alternatives to what we plan to
do? And we listed Naphtha as an alternative. For, for those that are not familiar Naphtha is
pretty much what someone characterized as white gasoline, that what you use in say your
Coleman lanterns. So, Naphtha certainly is a more flammable fuel than diesel and there are
brought, there are protective measures for Naphtha. For example if we did convert the plant to
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burn Naphtha instead of diesel what we have right now are what we call our fuel oil tanks,
theyre what we call fixed roof. In other words you just put there one volume and you put the
diesel into the tank and then you pump it out. In a Naphtha application as far as safety
precautions what you want to do is we have you re-, you convert or you build a new tank which
is what we call a floating roof tank. So its that the roof is on the, floating on the fluid, the
Naphtha in that case all the time so that you minimize the combustibles and the oxygen or the air
so that you could have combustion. Now after that it goes through the pipes and into the, into
the combustion turbine for ignition. So, it is treated no differently than lets say a gasoline where
the formula itself, Naphtha, would be the same as it comes from the refinery. Presently let me
say this that Naphtha is used by the power plant that exists at the old Hamakua Sugar Mill. They
have 2 combustion turbines and they primarily burn, use Naphtha right now. So there are
provisions for fire, safety and accidents.
SIRACUSA:So youre saying that its control combustion such as we have in our car
engines?ThecombustionofNaphthaiscontrolled,youvegotthiscapthatfloatsontop?
LEE:Yes.Thereareprotectivemeasuresforthestorageandfortheuseof
Naphtha.
SIRACUSA:Now, you say that a special ventilation systems been required to vent the
exhausts to an unconfined area. So I would like if you could show me over here where the
ventilation system would be especially in relation to the closest residences.
LEE:Well, first of all the ventilation system will probably be off of the floating
roof tank itself.
SIRACUSA:So where would that place be, point that out for me please.
LEE:Again the use of identification of Naphtha in the EIS was identified as an
alternative to what we presently have. So, this as Lee Sichter pointed out, these are the existing
tanks. One here, these two tanks and we have an existing tank here, tank one, item 46 and fuel
tank number 2, 46 which is existing. So these tanks would have to be converted from fixed roof
tanks to what we call floating roof tanks. And also in our application we proposed to build this
additional tank here as item, which is item 16. So most likely it will be built. Our plan is to
build it as a fixed roof tank to serve or hold diesel. Now if we convert as an alternative to
Naphtha in the future then this probably would be converted or replace with fixed roof tanks.
Oh, Im sorry, floating roof tanks.
SIRACUSA:Yeah, so that corner is where the exhaust would be?
LEE:The, these wherever you have a-.
SIRACUSA:In that general area.
LEE:-tank youll have the exhaust. Yeah, again its gas so it will go up. The
closest resident, your second question, in the Ag Park is located approximately here. The other-.
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SIRACUSA:Thats very close for I know its alternative you know but its, its, still
looks very close to me for something as dangerous as Naphtha.
ALAMEDA:Questions? Any follow up question Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Well Im wondering you know like why they think considering Naphtha
as an alternative to diesel when theyre both basically petroleum based products and if we know
whats been happening you know with petroleum based products and prices and how-. Im
concerned about how that would effect the electric bills for everybody and why Im wondering
arent you looking at something to burn that would come from a different source that wouldnt
be tied in to say mid-east oil or OPEC or that sort of thing.
LEE:Very good question. The reason that we listed Naphtha as an alternative.
Thereisadifference,theconstituentsofwhatconsistsofNaphthaanddiesel.And,itjustis
based on perhaps theres going to be future more stringent regulatory air permit regulations from
the Environmental Protection Agency or from the Department of Health. And the reason that we
would choose Naphtha is that Naphtha has a lower level of nitrogen-.
SIRACUSA:Flash point.
LEE:-in the Naphtha than the diesel. So the emission that comes out as a result
of combusting this fuel is what we call NOx, Nitrogen Oxides. So by switching to Naphtha you
would have a lower level of Nitrogen Oxides being emitted. So this would be, we would move
to that alternative if the permit restrictions become much, much more stringent.
SICHTER:Id like to add to Mr. Lees comments that of the remaining construction
to be done at the plant it can be summarized as the installation of a heat recovery system. And
that heat recovery system is referred to in the application as a ST7 or steam turbine 7. It would
consist of a mechanism whereby the heat from the existing combustion turbines 5 and 6 is
captured in order to make the facility more fuel-efficient. So that is the, improves the
environmental function of the entire facility by capturing wasted heat and using it to generate
additional megawatts of electricity. So the remaining construction that is intended is intended to
improve the efficiency of the plant.
ALAMEDA:Commissioner Siracusa follow up question for that?
SIRACUSA:Not at the moment.
ALAMEDA:Okay, other Commissioners any questions for our applicants?
Commissioner Springer?
SPRINGER:Thanks. Im just looking at the Landscape Concept Plan and in that our
condition has been amended to maintain rather than provide could you just walk through me on
the photograph of where? You have a good plant list but I cant quite make out the fuzzy print
on my copy where the actual plantings are occurring.
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SICHTER:Essentially the Landscape Concept Plan is fully in place. And it
principally consists of all these plantings. Just for orientation purposes, this is looking from the
Pukiawe entrance, the main entrance to the plant right here. Looking in a northern direction, so
Queen Kaahumanu Highway would be on the left of the photo. The Reservoir Road, which is
the mauka extension of the airport access road would be on the backside of the plant here. And
the Palamanui area, the Hiluhilu would be off in the distance up a the top of the photo. The
principal ends of the Landscape Concept Plan were to create a berm in order to have more earth
along here to support the vegetation that helps screen the plant. It consists of Wiliwili and Palm
trees. We have as you are aware problems with the Wiliwili on the Big Island now and the
Wiliwili are being jeopardized and they may very well have to be replaced with other planting
other trees at the project because theyre not doing well right now. This is a view of the plant
from the intersection of the airport access road to, its intersection with Queen Kaahumanu
Highway looking mauka and you can see the sum effect of the landscaping that has been
introducedoverthelast18monthsorso.Andonefurtherviewisoftheplantfurthersouthalong
Queen Kaahumanu Highway with another view of the landscaping thats been put in. We have a
number of Norfolk pines that are doing very well. Theyre maturing and those will add a lot of
density in vegetation in the gaps between the palm trees. So the overall intention is to have the
upper canopy of the palms and then the broad base of the Norfolk pines ascending to a peak of
the trees which balances with the palms and gives a relatively uniformed landscape that is
intended to obscure as much of the structures as possible.
ALAMEDA:Commissioner Springer follow up?
SPRINGER:Yeah if Im reading correctly on the right hand side of the illustration on
page 357. Among the tall trees I see the Norfolk Island pine, what are the 2 listed above that? Is
that manele and kukui?
SICHTER:Yes.
SPRINGER:And have those been installed?
SICHTER:I believe they have.
SPRINGER:And are you working with seedlings or larger trees?
SICHTER:I believe they were seedlings.
LEE:Well not necessarily. I dont know what is a seedling I mean, the kukui
trees were planted, they were about 3 feet in height and they expect full growth at maybe about 2
to 3 years. The palm-.
SPRINGER:And the manele?
LEE:The palm? Im not sure which one is the manele but-.
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SICHTER:Those are palms also.
LEE:-they were seedlings.
SICHTER:What I meant, what I was starting to say was that they were more saplings
than seedlings.
SPRINGER:And theyre fully irrigated and fertilized and-?
SICHTER:Yes, weve actually had a lot of success with all of the vegetation except
for the Wiliwili.
SPRINGER:And the other trees, the tall trees the alahee, the koaia, those have all been
installed?
SICHTER:Everythings been installed now.
SPRINGER:Thank you.
SICHTER:If I might add, make one more note that I failed to make earlier. When we
preparedthisphotographitcametoourattentionthatthisstormdraininthesouth,southeastor
southwestern corner of the plant had not appeared on the original plot-plan. So we have added
that and it is identified as item 56 in the lower left corner and theres a second storm drain that is
just above parking lot in the upper corner and its also identified as item 56. Those are existing
storm drains and they just were inadvertently omitted from the original plot plan.
ALAMEDA:Thank you. Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Yes you mentioned planting the Norfolk Island Pines interspersed with the
palms. And I could see how once they all get big that would give you some pretty good upper
canopy type of coverage because Norfolk Pines would come to a point but the fronds from the
palms would fill in that empty space. However that would then leave your lower level open and
visible. So Im wondering if you were planning on later on down the line if this is part of your
plan to fill in your-, I wouldnt say your lower canopy because its lower than that with some
thick shrubs or something like that.
SICHTER:Actually if I may approach youll find as we all know the Norfolk pine has
a pyramid shape broad at the base pointed at the peak. And the Norfolk pines are located in such
a way that when they grow higher those bases of those Norfolk pines, the foliage is going to be
much broader and its intended to fill in and cover this building space as much as is practical.
SIRACUSA:I understand that. Im thinking of Norfolk pines that I know personally.
That have gotten very large and now the broadest branches are above my head. And granted
they stick out a long ways but theyre still-.
SICHTER:Youre saying theres trunk height before the first fronds yeah?
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SIRACUSA:Considerable amount of trunk height now at maturity that would then have
to be filled in some more if you want complete coverage. So, I was wondering if you had taken
that into consideration in your long range plan for the landscaping?
SICHTER:I believe it has been taken into consideration. And our landscaping, the
concept plan that was presented in EIS is very much an adaptable type of plan. So, as we move
along and see how the pattern of the landscaping works the applicant is certainly amenable to
enhancing that landscaping with additional material if warranted.
ALAMEDA:Thank you. Commissioners any other questions for our applicants? Go
ahead Commissioner Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Well aalii is a good choice because its nice even though it also is conical
in shape but its lowest branch is still pretty low to the ground and it gives you some nice density
there. The naupaka of course is a full shrub that would give you lower density but not get as tall
as the aalii. And, the kokio keokeo, I would say is about the same as the naupaka in terms of
coverage.
ALAMEDA:Thank you. See you had free consultation you got there. You have any
questions for our-? Maybe you might have questions or any other comments given our
discussion? Fellow Commissioners any other questions? We do have one testifier but before I
ask you to sit down its a Mr. Joel Gimpel and if hes not here Im going to ask that you stay.
Mr. Gimpel? Giving that theres no further testimony it brings it back to our Commission. Any
other questions before I entertain a motion and move into discussion? Do you have any closing
statements or comments to make Mr. Sichter?
SICHTER:Id just like to acknowledge the Planning Departments Staff for the
efficiency of their work on this particular application. It was a very rapid turnaround and we
really, certainly do appreciate that, thank you.
ALAMEDA:Youre welcome. Go ahead Commissioner Graham.
GRAHAM:Sorry but I just want to say that in the spirit of your appreciation I just
wanttosaywegotthismaterialfromyoufolks(inaudible)Iamsureasyoucanseealotofwhat
you gave us is beyond what we really need to do a rezoning consideration but I did spend a lot of
timereadingitandfounditbothinterestingandinstructivesoitsnotwastedthankyou.
ALAMEDA:Other Commissioner comments? Go ahead Mr. Hayashi?
HAYASHI:I just wanted to state that Mr. Gimpel did leave his testimony with us and
its made a part of the record.
ALAMEDA:Okay. Mr. Gimpels testimony is in written form and is part of the
record. We are at the point of entertaining a motion. Commissioner Watanabe?
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WATANABE:I move that a favorable recommendation be forwarded to the County
Council on the application for change of zone, application REZ 05-025 based on the Planning
Directors recommendations and proposed conditions.
ALAMEDA:Is there a second?
SPRINGER:Second.
ALAMEDA:Motion was made by Commissioner Watanabe and seconded by
Commissioner Springer. Discussion? Seeing none, Mr. Hayashi? Oh, hold on. Commissioner
Siracusa?
SIRACUSA:Yeah, we have a letter from the State Department of Transportation to
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Director Yuen, lets see its dated January 8, this year and item number 1, they state that the
project has some potential impacts that will need the applicants attention. These impacts relate
to the access road, pollution, drainage and water quality controls and have been outlined in our
prior comments on the electric facility. Im wondering especially about the pollution issue and
Im wondering what particular types of pollution they were referring to. Is it the NO?
ALAMEDA:Mr. Sichter?
SICHTER:Thank you. We responded in writing to that. The previous comment that
they attached and if I could just briefly summarize. We contacted the Department of
Transportation immediately after receiving that letter to, in an attempt to seek clarification on
what their comments were. Their comments were specifically related not to the functioning of
the plant itself but to the vehicular traffic on the roads and the storm water drainage that would
be associated with the plant. And that is why we made a point of adding that storm water drain
location on the plot plan because the facility has incorporated a storm water drain system. If I
mightjustveryquicklypointoutthatthischannelherewasaddedinaspartofthelandscaping
plan and it picks up sheet flow and directs it to this storm water drain. The Department of
Transportations concern was principally the impacts of storm water drainage across Queen
Kaahumanu Highway and demonstrated to the department that we have taken their concerns
under consideration and that the current operational design of the facility has mitigated any
impacts that might result and they need not be concerned about that.
SIRACUSA:One final question. Id like to know how many megawatts you propose to
produce at this plant?
SICHTER:The plant currently is operating at 64 megawatts and the addition of the
ST7, the steam turbine generator will bring it up to approximately 84. So its about a 24
additional megawatts, approximately.
SIRACUSA:Okay and what percentage of the islands peak needs will this meet?
ALAMEDA:Mr. Lee?
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LEE:At 60 megawatts, presently our peak is running about 200 megawatts right
now so thats about 30%. With the addition of the steam turbine number 7 also characterized as
the heat recovery steam generator itll go up to about 40% just with the additions. Now we have
3 other diesel generators there that are hope to also contribute in addition to the 2 combustion
turbines that were talking about. So you can add another 4 to 5% to that. So about 40, 45% at
build out.
SIRACUSA:So, I understand that Puna Geothermal Ventures is looking to increase to
60 megawatts. Will that bring you up to the full amount that you need to generate or will, will
you not need as that much?
LEE:Well right now, my understanding is that Puna Geothermal Ventures is
permitted by the geothermal resource permit to go up to 60. Presently they provide by contract
to HELCO, 30 megawatts. Puna Geothermal Ventures has also petitioned the Board of Land and
NaturalResourcestoincreaseupto60megawatts.Sowhattheyredoingistheyreplanningfor
the future. Presently when I mentioned that our capa-, peak load is about 200 megawatts, they
are preparing I guess to negotiate with us for the future demand as the island continues to grow
and the demand for electricity increases. So, theyre looking probably at, if we can consummate
a contract providing the generation maybe beyond the, for the year 2020 yeah.
SIRACUSA:Thank you. No further questions.
ALAMEDA:Thank you. Any other discussion items before I ask Mr. Hayashi to call
roll? Seeing none, Mr. Hayashi?
HAYASHI:Thank you Mr. Chair. Commissioner Watanabe?
WATANABE:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Springer?
SPRINGER:Yes.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Galdones?
GALDONES:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Graham?
GRAHAM:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner McCall?
MCCALL:Aye.
HAYASHI:Commissioner Siracusa?
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SIRACUSA:Aye.
HAYASHI:Chair Alameda?
ALAMEDA:Aye.
HAYASHI:Mr. Chair motion carries.
ALAMEDA:Thank you, youll be informed in writing of this decision.
APPLICANTS:Thank you very much.
ALAMEDA:Thank you for waiting.
This discussion ended at 4:55 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
LynetteMarushige,WestHawaiiSecretary
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