Environmental lawsuit halts plans for West Kaua‘i Energy Project

LIHU‘E – Plans for a more than $250 million renewable energy project on the westside of Kaua‘i are in limbo, following lawsuits by two community groups that allege its environmental impact was not properly assessed.

Last week, the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC), the island’s primary electricity company, announced that its hydro project, the West Kaua‘i Energy Project (WKEP), had been jeopardized by litigation-caused delays, project uncertainty and cost increases.

On Dec. 13, the utility said it was discontinuing active development of the flow-through hydroelectric portions of the system and had not yet decided whether it would move forward with a scaled-back project.

“While it’s unfortunate that the full potential of the environmental, social, and economic benefits of WKEP will not be realized, we retain hope WKEP will still be an important piece of KIUC’s renewable portfolio,” said David Bissell, the president and chief executive officer of the utility, in a statement.

KIUC has been working on plans for the hydro project since 2012, which aims to be the first solar-powered pumped-storage hydroelectric system on Earth.

The utility previously said the full-scale project would provide about 25 percent of the island’s electricity needs and likely bring the county grid to nearly 90 percent renewable generation.

‘Against wasting water’

KIUC’s recent announcement follows a February 2023 lawsuit filed against the state Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) by attorneys with environmental nonprofit Earthjustice, on behalf of community groups Po‘ai Wai Ola and Na Kia‘i Kai.

In the document, Earthjustice challenges the DLNR’s Dec. 27, 2022, finding that the project would have no significant impact on the environment, saying the decision, made by then-outgoing DLNR Chair Suzanne Case, was rushed, done without any input, or approval of the board or any public hearing.

The complaint concerns the utility’s request for DLNR approval for a 65-year water lease to undertake the flow-through hydroelectric portions of the project. However, the flow-through portion would require diverting 11 million gallons of water per day from the Waimea River.

“Much of (this water) is currently proposed to be dumped on a faraway plain, into drainage ditches that pollute the ocean with contaminant-laden sediment,” the document states.

It also states the DLNR failed to require an environmental impact statement for the hydro project, violating the Hawai‘i Environmental Policy Act, as written in Chapter 343 of Hawai‘i Revised Statutes. Instead, the utility provided an environmental assessment, which the lawsuit alleges is “far less comprehensive.”

John Aana, the vice president of Po‘ai Wai Ola, a community group made up of local taro farmers from Waimea, echoed those concerns in an interview with The Garden Island, calling the utility’s announcement “a win” for the community.

“At least, you know, they’re not going to be wasting the water. That’s the main thing,” he said. “We’re not against renewable energy. We’re just against wasting water for it.”

Aana said the DLNR tried to “ram through” an environmental impact assessment that was “wholly inadequate.”

He also claimed the utility’s hydro project would have no benefits for westside residents.

“Westside residents weren’t going to get any benefits from this, really,” he said. “We’re not gonna get cheaper electricity. We weren’t going to get anything, except they were gonna take the water.”

According to Aana, his group had supported the utility’s original proposal, which only included pumped storage, not the recently canceled flow-through portion of the project.

“We supported that because it was just hydro that didn’t waste water. And then eventually, it morphed into a pumped storage plus flow-through,” he said. “And that’s what we had problems with because we didn’t want a hydro that wasted water.”

Aana said the flow-through portion would have damaged the river and wildlife, especially the population of ‘o‘opu, a Hawaiian freshwater fish that local people have depended on as a major food source.

“A lot of local people depend on the river for resources,” he said.

DLNR finalizing resolution

Plans for the now smaller-scale project have reduced potential power production by 25 percent, according to KIUC, due to the removal of the flow-through portion and the plan to rely on pumped storage only for electricity.

Pumped storage electricity uses gravity to transform water flow into an all-natural battery.

Two different reservoirs would be filled with groundwater from wells on the Mana Plain and connected by a penstock or pipe.

Using this method, the same water would be recycled up and down between the two reservoirs. Water would be pumped uphill from the first reservoir using solar power, stored at the second (higher) reservoir, and then released back down to the first (lower) reservoir at night, where a 20-megawatt powerhouse would be located.

To make up for losses of water due to evaporation, water from the wells of the Mana Plain would occasionally be pumped into the reservoirs, KIUC Communications Manager Beth Amaro told The Garden Island in an email response earlier this week. She noted this option does not require any water to be diverted.

The canceled portion of KIUC’s plan, the flow-through portion, would have required the diversion of 11 million gallons of water from streams in Kokee via a third reservoir and the Kokee ditch. That addition would have generated power at a 4-megawatt powerhouse at the second reservoir.

“In addition to generating roughly 25 percent less hydropower than originally planned, the scaled-down project would no longer deliver water to the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands and the Agribusiness Development Corporation for irrigation use on their lands,” Amaro said, noting that it was meant to revitalize agriculture on their lands.

It remains undecided whether the utility will continue with the scaled-back hydro project, according to Amaro.

“There are no new updates from last week on whether or not KIUC will move forward with WKEP. We don’t anticipate a decision on that for another two to three months,” she said.

Representatives for the DLNR declined to comment on the current status of the February lawsuit to The Garden Island.

“We can’t comment on outstanding litigation,” said DLNR Communications Director Dan Dennison in an email response.

However, according to a Dec. 12, 2023, court document, Earthjustice attorneys and the DLNR are working on a resolution of the case, which should be finalized within the next several weeks.

“The parties believe that a settlement would resolve this matter expeditiously and in the best interest of the public, the parties, and the judicial economy,” the document, written by Earthjustice attorneys Isaac Moriwake and Elena Bryant, states.

•••

Emma Grunwald, reporter, can be reached 808-652-0638 or egrunwald@thegardenisland.com.