Statement from Warren Lee, President of Honua Ola

Statement from Warren Lee, President of Honua Ola

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Statement from Warren Lee, President of Honua Ola
RE: Hawaii Supreme Court Rules Unanimously in Favor of Honua Ola’s Appeal
to the Public Utilities Commission

Pepeʻekeo, HI (May 24, 2021) — Warren Lee, President of Honua Ola Bioenergy (also referred to as Hu Honua Bioenergy), issued the following statement in response to the opinion issued today by the Hawaii Supreme Court in favor of Honua Ola regarding its appeal to the Public Utilities Commission.

“We are grateful for the Hawaii Supreme Court’s unanimous decision today in favor of Honua Ola Bioenergy. We look forward to the opportunity to present data on how Honua Ola will produce much-needed firm, clean, renewable energy, while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the PUC’s evidentiary hearing.

“We are also thankful for the Court’s clarification that the 2017 waiver from competitive bidding remains valid and in force. The PUC approved the 2017 waiver because, among other things, HELCO plans to add intermittent renewable energy and the Hawai‘i Island grid will require sufficient firm (non-weather dependent) dispatchable power to ensure grid reliability. The PUC also stated the project provides the most viable opportunity to add firm, dispatchable, renewable generation as soon as possible.

“Honua Ola will soon be ready to produce firm, clean, renewable energy 24 hours a day, seven days a week for Hawai‘i Island residents and communities. Furthermore, Honua Ola will greatly reduce the Hawai‘i Island’s future dependence on fossil fuels, while facilitating HELCO’s ability to add other intermittent renewable resources, like wind energy and solar power, onto its grid. We look forward to being able to provide these services to the community as soon as possible.”

BACKGROUND

• The Court has remanded this matter back to the PUC and determined that Honua Ola and the PUC are fixed in the same position following the Court’s opinion that was issued in 2019.
• Two years ago, the Court instructed the PUC to conduct an evidentiary hearing to consider the project’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions, if any. The PUC never scheduled the hearing, choosing instead to effectively shut down the project last July. With the Court’s opinion today reaffirming its instruction that an evidentiary hearing be held, we are hopeful the PUC will schedule it as soon as possible.
• The Court’s opinion today sends a clear message to the PUC that its scope is to consider greenhouse gas emissions and ensure the participation of Life of the Land only.
• As previously stated, Honua Ola’s commitment to replant more trees than it harvests, along with its written agreements for tree planting with the Friends of Hawai‘i Volcanoes National Park and the National Forest Foundation, ensures the project will be carbon negative.
• Honua Ola is 99% complete and can soon be ready to begin operating. Every day Honua Ola is delayed is another day Hawai‘i Island is reliant on fossil fuels, while the quality of the environment is needlessly compromised.
• Honua Ola has invested more than $400 million into transforming an abandoned legacy sugar mill plant that operated on bagasse into a state-of-the-art renewable energy facility, while also dedicating a significant amount of time and resources into the hiring and training of its employees, all of which was done based on approvals previously made by the PUC.

About Honua Ola Bioenergy

Located in Pepeʻekeo on the Hāmākua Coast of Hawaiʻi Island, the Honua Ola Bioenergy project (also known as Hu Honua Bioenergy) is a state-of-the-art facility that will provide renewable, firm energy 24/7, support Hawai‘i’s clean energy goals, revitalize East Hawai‘i Island’s agricultural sector, and create permanent, long-term jobs for the next 30 years to help support the island’s economy. For more information, please visit www.HonuaOlaBioenergy.com.