HomeMy WebLinkAbout2026-09-21 Jim Freedman and Julie Daniel Testimony
From: Jim Freedman
To: Planning LPC Testimony
Cc: Julie Daniel
Subject: Aloha
Date: Monday, September 21, 2026 1:25:21 PM
I understand you will be addressing Bill 170 at this week's meeting. As a resident of Puna, I strongly oppose
permitting massive data centers on any of the Hawaiian Islands, and particularly our island. Previously established data centers on the mainland use massive quantities of electricity and water. If there is anything the storms have shown us this year it is how delicate our electric grid is. Helco has not been able to make the investments necessary to make residential electricity stable. Undertaking the massive increase in capacity required to support a data center will put a huge burden on Helco customers. We already pay rates that are as higher or higher than any in the country.
It is unlikely that any massive increase in capacity will improve the reliability of the residential grid. In addition, there seems like little possibility that renewables will pick up the load. This means we will have to import massive amounts of fossil fuels for the new capacity, exacerbating global climate change (which appears to be the cause of our record El Nino and this years storms).
Although the west side of the island appears to have the water resources required, many of our residents exist and catchment and public water stations. The east side is water poor. Again, infrastructure capacity will be severely strained by any data center installation.
We need to be careful in our definition of what a data center is to ensure we don't inadvertently include much smaller data processing departments in any permitting ban. This should not be difficult, many municipalities around the country have already written this legislation. I urge you to reject the planning department’s recommendation regarding Data Centers until we firm up our definitions
Mahalo for your time and attention to the matter which is so important for our community. We have an opportunity to be a role model for higher levels of government.
Jim Freedman and Julie Daniel 13-3427 Kula Street, Pahoa