LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative’s plan for a new transformer substation in Lawa‘i to provide backup power in South and West Kaua‘i and more power for anticipated development in Po‘ipu was unveiled at a Kaua‘i County Planning Commission yesterday.
LIHU‘E — Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative’s plan for a new transformer substation in Lawa‘i to provide backup power in South and West Kaua‘i and more power for anticipated development in Po‘ipu was unveiled at a Kaua‘i County Planning Commission yesterday.
At a public hearing at the Lihu‘e Civic Center, KIUC representatives said the project is proposed to be developed on a one-acre site at a cost of $2 million.
The land is part of 1,000 acres in South Kaua‘i owned by Alexander & Baldwin and used by Kauai Coffee Company for coffee-bean cultivation.
If built, the project will benefit the 1,002-acre resort development project at Kukui‘ula proposed by Kukui‘Ula Development Co. Hawai‘i, a 323-unit condominium project along Po‘ipu Road proposed by the Regency Development LLC, and other projects planned for Po‘ipu, said John J. Leavitt, vice president of engineering and operations for KIUC.
Commissioner Chairman Theodore Daligdig III said it is his impression the project is being positioned for the benefit of Kuiku‘Ula Development, a sentiment echoed by commissioner Steven Weinstein.
KIUC leaders are seeking a use permit and a Class IV Zoning permit.
Leavitt said the proposed project would serve Koloa, Lawa‘i, Po‘ipu and Kalaheo.
He said the proposed facility also would provide backup emergency power for KIUC transformer substations at Port Allen and in Lawa‘i and Koloa.
Two existing KIUC transformer substations in Lawa‘i and Koloa can help each other with the distribution of energy in case of outages, Leavitt said.
“We have backup, but it is getting tight,” Leavitt said. “It is time to do something.”
The capacity at the Lawa‘i transformer substation is at about 80 percent capacity, and the Koloa one is at 50 percent, he said.
Commissioner Abigail Santos said she felt it might be more prudent to expand the existing transformer substation in Koloa as a way for KIUC to meet its energy demands.
Leavitt said he and others, including Perry White, president of Planning Solutions, a Honolulu consultant, looked at that possibility.
Leavitt said they didn’t give it much more consideration because they felt a third facility would provide another emergency backup source for KIUC’s grid system.
The proposed facility would be ideally located to provide such services, as it would be 5 1/2 miles from the generating plant and a transformer substation at Port Allen, and about the same distance from the transformer substation in Koloa, Leavitt said.
Two more transformers could be built on the one-acre site should the demand for more energy arise, Leavitt said.
The substation would include circuit-breaker line terminals, transmission lines, power transformers, distribution circuits and A-frame structures rising to 35 feet, and poles.
Leavitt said he would like to see the project operational by December, 2006.
Daligdig and other commissioners had concerns the project could cause electric rates to go up for KIUC customers.
KIUC customers won’t have to worry about higher bills, Leavitt assured. The $2 million for the project will come from KIUC’s capital budget and advance funds from developers, Leavitt said.
In the latter case where people buy property from developers and connect to the KIUC electrical system, KIUC leaders will make reimbursements to a developer, Leavitt said.
The reimbursements would be paid for no longer than five years, a condition that would be imposed by the state Public Utilities Commission, Leavitt said.
For the project to fly, Alexander & Baldwin could grant KIUC leaders an easement or sell the one-acre site to KIUC leaders, said Tom Shigemoto, an A&B vice president who attended the public hearing.
The facility would be built in a low-lying area to attempt to minimize visual impacts, a county Planning Department report noted.
White said KIUC leaders are cognizant of the public concerns about visual impacts from the project, and have looked at putting landscaping on the perimeter of the parcel, and planting trees that are 12 feet tall and taller.
Only Patricia Egger of Kalaheo spoke out against the project. She acknowledged she doesn’t live anywhere near the proposed project, and can’t see the one-acre parcel from her home.
But she opposed the project partly because the proposed project, if built, will be “visible from many of my neighbors’ homes.”
She also said the power demands are primarily confined to Po‘ipu, and that area is where the proposed facility should be put.
In a statement sent to the commission, Egger said it seemed odd to her that the proposed substation would be located “in a place that is remote from where most of the demand is (Po‘ipu).”
“I do not think that it is good public policy or fair to allow these developers to export their power problems to someone else’s community,” Egger wrote.
Leavitt noted, however, that the project is likely to serve customers not only in Po‘ipu, but in surrounding areas, including Kalaheo one day.
Egger recommended the proposed project be placed on a former cane-haul road about a mile northwest of Spouting Horn and immediately makai of an area she described as Manuhonohono knoll.
Placed in that spot, the facility could not be seen from Kalaheo or Lawa‘i, and would be “far enough away” from the Kukui‘Ula Development project, she suggested.
Commission members officially closed the public hearing, but allowed people to submit written testimony over the next six days. A decision by the commission is pending.
Staff Writer Lester Chang may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 225) or lchang@pulitzer.net.
