LARGE SCALE WINDFARMS ON LANAI & MOLOKAI DISCUSSED

A plan that could lead to the construction of large wind farms on Lanai and Molokai will be discussed today at the Governor’s Lanai Community Advisory Council meeting. The agreement between Castle & Cooke, First Wind Hawaii, and Hawaiian Electric proposes to supply the island of Oahu with the clean energy created on the neighbor islands.The plan is part of a Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative that seeks to move the state toward 70 percent clean energy sources by the year 2030.Today’s meeting is at 5 p.m. at the Lanai Senior Center.

(File Photo: Governor Linda Lingle visits the Kaheawa Windfarm on Maui in 2008. Photo by Wendy OSHER)

The meeting is a follow-up to the Council’s Feb. 24 meeting, which focused on the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s work to achieve energy independence through the Hawai`i Clean Energy Initiative. Ted Peck, energy administrator, Strategic Industries Division, and Joshua Strickler, facilitator of renewable energy projects, from the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, both of whom spoke to the Council and the community last month about the HCEI, will discuss the recent agreement.

The Lāna`i Community Advisory Council holds monthly public meetings on the fourth Tuesday of each month to seek community input and advise the Governor of important issues on Lāna`i. The advisory council also recommends potential nominees from Lāna`i to serve on state boards and commissions.

Members include Christine Costales, Darlene Endrina, Michael Lopez, Matthew Mano and Douglas Rolefson.

(Posted by Wendy OSHER © 2009) (Placeholder Image © Wendy OSHER 2009)