Bill Text: HI HR150 | 2013 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Alternatives To The Interisland Transmission Cable System

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 6-0)

Status: (Passed) 2013-04-12 - Resolution adopted in final form. [HR150 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-HR150-Introduced.html

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.R. NO.

150

TWENTY-SEVENTH LEGISLATURE, 2013

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 

 

 

 

 

HOUSE RESOLUTION

 

 

urging the governor and the public utilities commission to seek alternatives to the industrial wind generation facilities and interisland high-voltage UNDERSEA electric TRANSMISSION cable system proposed for the islands of molokai and lanai.

 

 

 


     WHEREAS, the construction and operation of an interisland high-voltage undersea electric transmission cable system has the potential to improve the distribution of electricity and power throughout the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 165, Session Laws of Hawaii 2012, authorized the construction and development of an interisland high-voltage undersea electric transmission cable system to link the electricity consumers of the island of Oahu to the wind energy generation facilities located on other islands of the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, although the development of the interisland high-voltage undersea electric transmission cable system is innovative and seemingly attractive, the placement of wind energy generation facilities near communities throughout the State could have a profoundly negative impact on the communities surrounding the facilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, wind turbines have caught fire, collapsed, or expelled their rotor blades during operation, thereby creating potential health and safety hazards for people living in the communities near the wind generation facilities; and

 

     WHEREAS, wind turbines affect the beauty of the landscape, create noise pollution, impede subsistence hunting, gathering, and fishing, and pose potential health risks for those who live nearby; and

 

     WHEREAS, Act 165, Session Laws of Hawaii 2012, authorizes a regulatory structure for the construction of the interisland high-voltage undersea electric transmission cable system, but does not require the construction of the system; and

 

     WHEREAS, residents and community groups on Molokai and Lanai have strongly opposed the construction of wind energy generation facilities on those islands; and

 

     WHEREAS, seeking island-specific alternatives to the construction and development of the interisland high-voltage undersea electric transmission cable system would enable the State to explore and develop energy options that may be less disruptive to the environment and community; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-seventh Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2013, that the Governor and the Public Utilities Commission are requested to seek island-specific alternatives to the industrial wind generation facilities and interisland high-voltage undersea electric transmission cable system now being considered; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, the Chairperson of the Public Utilities Commission, the Mayor of the County of Maui, and the Executive Director of I Aloha Molokai, Friends of Lanai, Lanaians for Sensible Growth, Kupaa No Lanai, and the Lanai Cultural and Heritage Center, respectively.

 

 

 

 

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title: 

Alternatives To The Interisland Transmission Cable System

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