Ka‘ū News Briefs, Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Micronesians are among those who can travel freely to Hawaiʻi, live here and receive many U.S. public services. Rep. Ed case is calling for Congress to extend these services which have been in place since 1986. He and Rep. Tulsi Gabbard ask for the federal government to reimburse Hawaiʻi. Photo from Grass Roots Institute of Hawaiʻi

Islanders from the Marianas, Palu, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Marshall Islands are covered by the Compacts of Free Association, which allow them to freely travel here and receive services, in exchange for the U.S. government maintaining exclusive access to land for military operations.

     Case - joined by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Guam Delegate Michael San Nicolas, and Northern Mariana Islands Delegate Gregorio Sablan - wrote a letter to the Secretaries of Defense, State, and the Interior, the federal departments most directly involved in FAS matters. The group called on the Administration to "explicitly address full and adequate Compact aid to all disproportionately affected jurisdictions" as part of the renegotiation. COFA renewals must be approved by Congress.
     In contrast, Case pointed out, "for Fiscal Year 2019 Compact impact aid, the U.S. Department of Interior distributed just $16.8 million for Guam, $2.3 million for the Northern Mariana Islands, $23,000 for American Samoa – and $14.8 million for Hawai‘i.
OPPOSITION TO INDUSTRIAL SOLAR INSTALLATIONS that would cover 26 lots in three Ocean View neighborhood is based, in part, on the project being proposed eight years ago and the changing economics of affordable electricity in the meantime, according to complaints filed with the state Public Utilities Commission. See the Tuesday, Nov. 26 Kaʻū News Briefs.
     In 2011, SPI Energy's predecessors, Solar Hub Utilities and RevoluSun, were admitted to the Feed in Tarrif Program to produce electricity to be sold to Hawaiʻi Electric Light Co, based on their declaration that they would complete Ocean View installations between August 2012 and January 2013. It was a time when incentives were abundant for solar projects, including pricing that was higher than now.
     The Ocean View community only became aware of Solar Hub's plans via a news report in West Hawaiʻi Today in May, 2013. At that time, readers were told that construction "could begin as soon as 60 - 90 days." However, at a meeting with Solar Hub's spokesman,Pat Shudak, the community voiced objection to the project that would place lotline to lot-line solar installation within neighborhoods.
     During two years of inactivity, from May 2013 to June 2015, residents assumed that the project had fallen through. However, on June 15, 2015, Hawaiʻi Electric Light Co. reserved the Ocean View Community Center to announce plans for a new substation and transmission line to service the project. At that meeting, a HELCO spokesperson said that the project would include eight more sites and would be built by SPI Energy. She said that it was a "done deal."
     Community resistance to the project grew, with meetings, numerous letters to the PUC, a petition, a referendum, video news and regular press, magazine, and blog reports. To date, no site work has been done by SPI Energy. However, the company has asked that complaints, opposing the project be dismissed. Ocean View residents responded that the cost of electricity produced by the project would be higher than other sources and despoil their neighborhoods. See yesterday's Kaʻū News Briefs.
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