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| `Alalā, are back in captivity after their recent reintroduction into the wild with two of the five surviving after a short time in the forest near Volcano. Photo from National Park Service |
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Condolences have come from around the world since three of five‘Alalā perished after their recent release into the forest. The surviving two have been placed back into an aviary. Photo from San Diego Zoo |
Pu‘u Maka‘ala Natural Area Reserve is an area that conservationists have worked to preserve, protecting native plants and species, and it represents the type of habitat where ‘Alalā originally lived before their numbers began to decline. The ‘Alalā, or Hawaiian crow, has been extinct in the wild since 2002, preserved only at the Keauhou and Maui Bird Conservation Centers managed by San Diego Zoo Global's Hawai‘i Endangered Bird Conservation Program.
Bryce Masuda, conservation program manager of the Hawai‘i Endangered Bird Conservation Program, remarked, “The loss of these three birds is difficult for the entire community, including the many people who have cared for these birds since their hatch and have worked steadfastly to prepare for their release. Condolences for this loss have come from around the world.”
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HMSA'S FIRST TELEHEALTH ONLINE KIOSK IN KA`U will be dedicated at the Ka`u Rural Health Community Association's Resource Distance and Learning Center on Friday, Jan. 13. The public is invited to the ceremony and also to video chat with a doctor at no cost. The dedication, ceremony and demonstration of online telehealth care begin at 11 a.m. and run until 1 p.m. The location is 96-3126 Puahala St., Pahala, near the Pahala Library.
Hawai`i Medical Service Association's certified and approved telehealth services are open not only for HMSA subscribers but also the general public, starting in January. HMSA officials say they are motivated to provide health care close to people's homes.
HMSA's description of its telehealth services states that consumers can talk to local credentialed physicians from HMSA's participating provider network, live on-demand. Sessions will be secure and private, using internet-based videoconferencing, secure chat, or telephone. Physicians can review claims and other health information the patient makes available, talk with patients, prescribe medications as physicians deem appropriate and consistent with standards of care, and recommend follow-up care. Session notes will be maintained electronically, and can be forwarded upon patient request to primary care physicians.
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HMSA's telehealth program is overseen by an executive board and government health care regulators, much like visits to a doctor in an office, clinic or hospital.
On its website, HMSA states that telehealth helps achieve affordable visits without an appointment. "Online Care doctors can help with sudden or acute conditions like bronchitis, or ear and sinus infections." They can help with "chronic conditions like allergies, diabetes or hypertension; common conditions like headaches, colds, or the flu, and managing multiple medications, side effects or drug interactions." Online care can also help in "Getting you on track with your health and well-being goals," according to HMSA.
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RENEWABLE ENERGY TAX CREDITS provided by the State of Hawai`i to taxpayers totaled $112.1 million in in 2014, slightly down from the 2013, according to the tax credits report released by the state Department of Taxation earlier this month. 2014 is the last year for which there’s data available. The Renewable Energy Technologies Tax Credit offers taxpayers who install rooftop solar systems a tax credit for 35 percent of the cost and a 20 percent credit for wind-powered systems. For single-family homes, the amount of the credit was capped at $5,000 for solar energy systems and $1,500 for wind-powered systems. For commercial operators, the credit was capped at $500,000 for wind or solar systems.
The report said that close to 15,000 tax filers made claims totaling $112.1 million in 2014, which amounted to 35 percent of all tax credit dollars claimed for that year. This is lower than 2013 when the state gave out $118.3 million in renewable energy tax credits. In 2012, a still record-setting $164 million in credit dollars were claimed, at the height of the solar photovoltaic industry.
For the three-year period from 2012 to 2014, more than $394 million was claimed, by far the largest sum of any of the state’s tax credits. This tax credit provides an incentive for Hawaiian families to install rooftop solar systems, as they are able to claim refunds of 35 percent of the cost from the state of Hawai’i as well as 30 percent on federal taxes. According to HELCO, there are nearly 11,000 customer-owned rooftop solar systems on the Big Island.
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| HMSA's Telehelath Kiosk will be available to the public at the Resource Distance and Learning Center. Photo from Ka`u Rural Health Community Association |
Hawai`i Medical Service Association's certified and approved telehealth services are open not only for HMSA subscribers but also the general public, starting in January. HMSA officials say they are motivated to provide health care close to people's homes.
HMSA's description of its telehealth services states that consumers can talk to local credentialed physicians from HMSA's participating provider network, live on-demand. Sessions will be secure and private, using internet-based videoconferencing, secure chat, or telephone. Physicians can review claims and other health information the patient makes available, talk with patients, prescribe medications as physicians deem appropriate and consistent with standards of care, and recommend follow-up care. Session notes will be maintained electronically, and can be forwarded upon patient request to primary care physicians.
HMSA's telehealth program is overseen by an executive board and government health care regulators, much like visits to a doctor in an office, clinic or hospital.On its website, HMSA states that telehealth helps achieve affordable visits without an appointment. "Online Care doctors can help with sudden or acute conditions like bronchitis, or ear and sinus infections." They can help with "chronic conditions like allergies, diabetes or hypertension; common conditions like headaches, colds, or the flu, and managing multiple medications, side effects or drug interactions." Online care can also help in "Getting you on track with your health and well-being goals," according to HMSA.
To read comments, add your own, and like this story, see Facebook. Follow us on Instagram and Twitter.
RENEWABLE ENERGY TAX CREDITS provided by the State of Hawai`i to taxpayers totaled $112.1 million in in 2014, slightly down from the 2013, according to the tax credits report released by the state Department of Taxation earlier this month. 2014 is the last year for which there’s data available. The Renewable Energy Technologies Tax Credit offers taxpayers who install rooftop solar systems a tax credit for 35 percent of the cost and a 20 percent credit for wind-powered systems. For single-family homes, the amount of the credit was capped at $5,000 for solar energy systems and $1,500 for wind-powered systems. For commercial operators, the credit was capped at $500,000 for wind or solar systems.
The report said that close to 15,000 tax filers made claims totaling $112.1 million in 2014, which amounted to 35 percent of all tax credit dollars claimed for that year. This is lower than 2013 when the state gave out $118.3 million in renewable energy tax credits. In 2012, a still record-setting $164 million in credit dollars were claimed, at the height of the solar photovoltaic industry.
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| Pakini Nui wind farm. Photo by Ann Bosted |
The very popular Net Energy Metering program, whereby an owner of a solar system could earn a credits for electricity after the sun went down in return for surplus daytime power, ended in October 2015. Under the NEM program, most household electricity bills could be as low as $25 per month, depending on how the project was financed. The end of the NEM program also ended the “boom and bust” cycle which ran from 2011 to 2015, during which time local solar installation companies’ revenues were up.
State and Federal Energy credits are also a huge incentive for overseas companies to install utility-sized solar farms, such as the one planned for Ocean View by SPI Solar, an international corporation which is based in Shanghai. SPI Solar wants to build a 6.75 megawatt utility-scale solar installation in a rural town under the Feed In Tariff Program.
State and Federal Energy credits are also a huge incentive for overseas companies to install utility-sized solar farms, such as the one planned for Ocean View by SPI Solar, an international corporation which is based in Shanghai. SPI Solar wants to build a 6.75 megawatt utility-scale solar installation in a rural town under the Feed In Tariff Program.
This project is now on hold following a Formal Complaint filed with the Public Utilities Commission by Ocean View residents. If the PUC allows the project to proceed, as HELCO argues is should, then SPI Solar will sell power to HELCO for 23.8c per kWh, which is roughly ten cents higher than four recently permitted solar farms, according to a story in the Honolulu Star Advertiser on Sept. 14.
In a February 2013 study, the University of Hawai`i Economic Research Organization revealed that the state renewable energy tax credit could cost $1.4 billion in lost revenue based on 1,100 megawatts of installed systems. The Renewable Energy Technologies Tax Credit was 35.2 percent of the total tax credits claimed in tax year 2014. Some 14,902 claims were filed for the renewable energy systems credits. The majority of the credits were for solar systems with 14,144 solar claims filed. Roughly $55 million in tax credits went to individuals who installed solar systems. Corporations received $42 million in tax credits for solar systems. Claims totaling about $39,000 were filed by individuals for wind systems.
The solar industry has been struggling since the state ended the NEM solar incentive program in October 2015. Net energy metering paid residents the full retail rate for excess electricity sent into the grid.
The state PUC replaced NEM with two programs called “grid-supply” and “self-supply.” Grid-supply credits customers roughly 8 cents less than those who enrolled in NEM. Self-supply encourages the use of batteries as it prohibits customers from sending excess energy into the electric grid. The only program currently available is self-supply because the Big Island reached the limit the PUC placed on the amount of solar systems that could enroll in grid-supply earlier this year.
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| Industrial solar farms incentivized by federal and state tax credits. Photo by Ann Bosted |
The solar industry has been struggling since the state ended the NEM solar incentive program in October 2015. Net energy metering paid residents the full retail rate for excess electricity sent into the grid.
The state PUC replaced NEM with two programs called “grid-supply” and “self-supply.” Grid-supply credits customers roughly 8 cents less than those who enrolled in NEM. Self-supply encourages the use of batteries as it prohibits customers from sending excess energy into the electric grid. The only program currently available is self-supply because the Big Island reached the limit the PUC placed on the amount of solar systems that could enroll in grid-supply earlier this year.
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CHRISTMAS IN THE COUNTRY is ongoing through the holidays at Volcano Art Center in Hawaiʻi Volcanoes National Park. Free; park entrance fees apply.
VOTE FOR THE BEST DECORATED Kilauea Military Camp cottage through the holidays.
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