The U.S. Senate passed a revised version of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act on Tuesday by a vote of 91-3. The updated bill authorizes $444 million in funding for programs important to Hawaii’s economy and military community, including $30
The U.S. Senate passed a revised version of the 2016 National Defense Authorization Act on Tuesday by a vote of 91-3. The updated bill authorizes $444 million in funding for programs important to Hawaii’s economy and military community, including $30 million for a grid consolidation project at Kauai’s Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands.
Consolidating the base’s four distinct grids into one will allow power to move more freely from where it’s generated to where it’s needed on the base. About 17 percent of the base’s operating budget is funneled toward utilities, according to Capt. Bruce Hay, PMRF’s commanding officer. About 99 percent of that money is spent on electricity, he said.
“Ultimately our goal is to reduce our cost of energy,” Hay told The Garden Island in June. “The unknown right now is what to plug in to. We’ll always be at least partly tied to KIUC, but the goal is to take advantage of green power.”
Landfill gas and pumped hydro storage are examples of the kinds of technologies PMRF is discussing with Kauai Island Utility Cooperative and the county as it develops a plan to reduce its energy footprint.
Hay said the base’s biggest drains on power are the larger buildings, many of which are not energy efficient and cost a significant sum to air condition.
Radar and other equipment also use a large amount of power, but Hay said they are only switched on when needed.
In addition to cutting energy costs, the project also marks a crucial step toward ensuring that the base can manage its load requirements to support Ballistic Missile Defense testing and other Navy missions.
U.S. Sen. Brian Schatz said Congress worked in a bipartisan manner to find a way to authorize funding for the military’s core operations.
“The defense authorization bill includes many provisions that strengthen our national defense, reinforce the need to rebalance to the Asia Pacific — through which Hawaii is central — and provide our service members with the equipment and training they need to protect America,” Schatz said.
In addition to funding for the grid consolidation at PMRF, the bill authorizes nearly $13 million for Maui research and development such as the Maui Space Surveillance System, a one-of-a-kind electro-optical facility that supports the Air Force’s efforts to track, identify and characterize space objects of interest, including the Dynamic Optical Telescope System.
It also authorizes more than $203 million to sustain the military’s environmental restoration activities, such as efforts to identify and remove unexploded ordnance at former military sites across the Neighbor Islands, ensuring that military training and activities remain in balance with Hawaii’s cultural and environmental needs.
Another $20 million will be funneled toward energy conservation projects in Hawaii, including $5.7 million for a carport solar array at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, $1 million for LED lighting and controls in defense health clinics at Schofield Barracks, and nearly $14 million for a smartgrid industrial control system at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.
