![]() The letter was submitted to the utilities commission as part of a proceeding seeking ideas on how to address the shutdown of the coal plant. Still, that AES has come forward with the proposal shows how worrisome the situation is for Oahu. “For this facility on the west side of Oahu where the majority of locally unwanted land uses are sited - landfills, military weapons storage and training facilities, and fossil fuel energy production - doubling down on incineration is doubling down on the environmental injustices suffered in these communities,” she said in a text message. Prolonging the power plant’s life, even burning wood instead of coal, would continue the injustice, she said. West Oahu has long borne a disproportionate share of Oahu’s unwanted projects, and shutting down the AES coal plant promised to mitigate that. ![]() Marti Townsend, director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii, echoed Curtis’s opposition to incineration to produce electricity but added there is an environmental justice component as well. Marti Townsend, director of the Sierra Club of Hawaii, said shutting down the AES plant entirely is an issue about environmental justice. “Life of the Land would fight in every regulatory process any attempt to switch AES from coal to wood,” he said in an email. Henry Curtis, executive director of Life of the Land, and a staunch advocate for reducing carbon emissions, said the organization would oppose AES’s proposal. But green energy advocates oppose the idea because burning stuff to make electricity still produces carbon dioxide. The wood pellets AES envisions using, known as “biomass” in energy parlance, are considered a renewable resource under Hawaii’s energy law. Jay Griffin, chairman of the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, has called that plan the equivalent of “going from cigarettes to crack,” and the PUC has imposed numerous requirements on the battery project as a consequence.ĪES’s proposal to burn wood instead of coal would mean a switch from fossil fuel consistent with the state’s energy policy. But that plan has come under criticism from regulators who note that until more large renewable projects can be finished, the battery still would have to be charged with electricity generated by oil-fired power plants. The current short-term plan to replace the coal-burning plant centers on a giant battery that is proposed for a site in Kapolei. “AES is working with the State to evaluate this option and to determine if it is, in fact, in the best interest of ratepayers and, importantly, the environment,” she said. In an email, Sandra Larsen, AES Hawaii’s market business leader, noted AES was asked by state officials to explore using wood to replace coal in 2022. In its request, AES called shifting from coal to wood “an option that will help maintain system reliability and enhance grid services, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, minimize financial impacts to Oahu’s customers, and help ensure the state’s responsible transition to a 100% renewable energy future.” The question is how to keep the lights on in the meantime. And, while industrial-scale solar and wind farms are expected eventually to provide ample power for the island, those aren’t built yet. The facility produces about one-fifth of Oahu’s electricity. AES Hawaii has proposed to convert its coal-burning power plant into one that burns wood instead. ![]() Shuttering the coal-burning plant poses a considerable challenge for Oahu’s power utility, Hawaiian Electric, as well as public utility regulators and supporters of Hawaii’s mandate to wean the state from using fossil fuel to produce electricity by 2045. ![]() The owners of Oahu’s large coal-burning electric plant now want to switch to burning wood pellets instead of shutting the plant down as scheduled next year.ĪES Hawaii submitted its request to Hawaii utility regulators last week as part of a proceeding exploring ways to deal with the closing of AES’s Barbers Point Coal Plant, which is scheduled to shut down in September 2022. ![]()
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