Hawaii Energy Efficient Measures will Affect Hawaii Kai
Gov. Lingle has taken steps to make the state more energy efficient. Among her initiatives are the following:
1. Better Place Hawaii has access to $45 million in special purpose revenue bond money for the
planning, design, building and development of transportation infrastructure,
equipment and apparatus to support electric vehicles now that Gov. Linda Lingle
has signed House Bill 1483 into law as Act 114.
The company is lining up financing, has signed a memorandum of agreement with
Hawaiian Electric Co. to buy electricity and is moving ahead with its Hawaii
plans."We hope to be pulling permits and installing infrastructure before the end
of this year," said Pete Cooper, acting managing director for Better Place
Hawaii.
Better Place's goal is to provide the batteries and recharging sites needed
to make owning an electric car affordable and convenient.
2. Lingle signed 3 energy bills in the last few days of the legislative session. The measures would
*Require electric utility companies to produce at least 25 percent of their
power from renewable sources by 2020 and at least 40 percent by 2030 (HB 1464).
*Require 1 percent of parking spaces in most public lots be reserved for
electric vehicles by Dec. 31, 2011 (SB 1202).
*Revise Hawai'i's renewable energy tax credit to try to attract more private
investment in that area (SB 464). "These new laws will help free Hawai'i from the grip of our foreign oil
addiction," said Jeff Mikulina, executive director of Blue Planet Foundation,
which lobbied for the measures. The legislation received widespread support from legislators, environmentalists
and clean-energy advocates but was opposed by those who said it would increase
Hawai'i's high cost of living, mainly through higher gas prices. 3. Separately, the city of Honolulu is using $19.3 million in federal stimulus money to buy
20 new articulated hybrid buses.
The purchase, which will expand the city's hybrid fleet to 70 buses, allows
the city to quickly deploy the stimulus money on a "green" project. However,
that additional investment in hybrid buses comes despite the findings of a
recent report by O'ahu Transit Services Inc. — operator of TheBus — that buying
more modern diesel buses makes better financial and environmental sense than
buying fewer more expensive hybrid buses.
The 60-foot hybrid electric buses, which cost nearly $1 million each, are
being purchased under an option from an earlier hybrid bus order with Canadian
bus maker New Flyer.
In addition to the hybrid buses, which will be delivered during a two-year
period, the city is in the process of buying 10, 35-foot clean diesel buses and
24, 40-foot clean diesel buses. Clean diesel buses are more environmentally
friendly than older diesel buses and cost about half as much as articulated
hybrid buses.
Many residents of Hawaii Kai commute to Honolulu and the buses will be an important addition to the fleet.
It's great to be on the cutting edge of green technology. Hawaii doesn't get much attention, but we are moving forward with definite steps toward energy independence.
Barbara Abe, Realtor