Disappeared News

By Henry Curtis


Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) §343-5 Applicability and requirements (c) Whenever an applicant proposes an action specified by subsection (a) that requires approval of an agency and that is not a specific type of action declared exempt under section 343-6, the agency initially receiving and agreeing to process the request for approval shall prepare an environmental assessment of the proposed action at the earliest practicable time to determine whether an environmental impact statement shall be required; provided that, for an action that proposes the establishment of a renewable energy facility, a draft environmental impact statement shall be prepared at the earliest practicable time.

One would think that “the earliest practicable time” is before a State regulatory agency were to rule “granting a waiver for the Big Wind bids is essential to meet a stated governmental objective”


PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION DECISION AND ORDER, DOCKET NO. 2009-0327, November 18, 2010

"By this Decision and Order, the commission declares that HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC.'s ("HECO") proposed large wind farm projects, as described in HECO's Petition filed on November 16, 2009, were not properly submitted through the Competitive Bidding Framework ("Framework"). However, as explained in greater detail below, the commission finds that in light of the public interest and to achieve a stated governmental objective, HECO is entitled to a waiver from the Framework, as provided for under the applicable terms of the Framework....


Based on the record presented in this matter, the commission hereby finds that HECO has not complied with the requirements set forth in the Competitive Bidding Framework. In particular, the commission finds 1) HECO failed to carry its burden of proving to the commission the adequacy of its notice to potential bidders of the possibility to submit non-conforming bids; 2) the non-conforming bids were not evaluated against several criteria required by the Framework and RFP and; 3) the

Framework does not specifically authorize bifurcation nor was commission approval requested or obtained for the bifurcation process. ...

The commission hereby determines that a waiver from the Competitive Bidding Framework is appropriate for the two non-conforming Big Wind bids. In particular, the commission finds that granting a waiver for the Big Wind bids is essential to meet a stated governmental objective, and is otherwise in the public interest. ...

The commission emphasizes that by granting this waiver from the competitive bidding process, it has not endorsed the Big Wind project, nor has it made a substantive determination of the project's prudency or viability. The commission reserves the right to review any and all aspects of the Big Wind project under the commission's jurisdiction when HECO makes a formal application for approval of any power purchase agreement or any other approval required of the commission for the project. ...


THE COMMISSION ORDERS:

1. HECO'S proposed large wind farm projects, as described in HECO's Petition filed on November 16, 2009, were not properly submitted through the Competitive Bidding Framework.

2. HECO's request for a waiver from the competitive bidding process for the Big Wind Project Developers that are the subject of this proceeding, i.e.. Castle and Cooke, Resorts, LLC, for Lanai, and Hawaii Holding, LLC, dba First Wind Hawaii, for Molokai, are approved; provided that:

(A) fully executed term sheets for each of the projects, as described in Section II.C, above, are filed within four months from the date of this Decision and Order, unless otherwise ordered by the commission; and

(B) documentation supporting the fairness of the price negotiated between HECO and the independent power producers are included in any application for approval of a PPA.

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