Governor Josh Green, JERA, LNG, and The Money Trail

[MyManao]

I backed a candidate once, not so much by choice (I was against the idea in fact) but by association. It was a case of being a part of something that ran its course and some of the folks involved decided to focus on electing one of our members to the county council as a means of infiltrating them with our ideas. The initial cause was Puna Geothermal Committee which ended up using the funds left over from fighting through the courts to stop geothermal from making a landfall in Volcano to getting one of our members, Russell Kokubun, elected to the Hawaii County Council. From there Russell went on to state politics and eventually because very influential in the state Senate.

The night Russell won to become a member of the county council we all got together to gleefully celebrate, and Russell said something to the effect of, don’t count on him for anything, as a first term member he intended to watch and wait, and ingratiate himself so as to earn some political capital before he did anything substantial. When Russell did become an active force in his own right he wasn’t the same guy we all knew before. At all. In fact his ideas, his policies were often contrary to what we, as a group, in the earlier years, would share. Once, when I asked him about that he came back with some version of we all learn from our experiences, and if a politician wants to get anything done they have to learn how to get along.

I think, upon reflection, that lesson is played out over and over through the rather odd bunch we would call Puna’s alumni of politicians. Most, who have by not learning that lesson, come home after short stints with little to show for their efforts. While the ones that have survived long enough to become influential have done so by morphing into something compatible with the political body more than being a representative of their initial ideals. It’s the nature of the beast. 

I wish Tam luck, but hear his words, the ideas you all have shared of his, and hear exuberance and zeal, which is tempered by my memories of those that have taken that ride before him.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

genius tricks like having us taxpayers actually pay for "studies" that work against our renewable energy goals, and for JERA.  

RandomQ can you please create a zero carbon meme that depicts people actually caring about the glaring fossil fuel push by our own Hawaii politicians who talk out of both sides of their mouth regarding renewable energy policy and goals?

Now that Gov Green has been proven correct about the accuracy of the solar vs natural gas report…

[randomq]

We could run off of 100% solar today, without utility scale batteries even. No base load generation either. People would just have to live in tune with their natural environment. Do power consuming work during the middle of the day. Scale back when it's rainy on both sides of the island. Buy enough battery for your home or business to cover your after dark needs. Sell back rooftop or battery power in the evenings and actually make money with your solar investment while helping others.

But, you know, once in a great while after a lot of overcast days. people would have to actually change their consumption or not run the AC or something.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

people would have to actually change their consumption

Agreed.
It’s the best, lowest cost solution for living with solar and wind.  Requiring the lowest cost investment.  I’ve managed it for years.  It only requires looking out the window, and checking the system’s gauges.  For HECO connected homes with smart meters which charge kWh by time of day, create a system that bills a heinously high rate when power generation is low.  People will turn off stuff fast if they have to pay more, much more during cloudy windless weather.

[ironyak]

Edge - Now that Gov Green has been proven correct about the accuracy of the solar vs natural gas report…
Um... what? The LNG report forgot to include the cost of, you know, the LNG in making their comparisons (which did not include cost comparisons to wind/solar/geothermal, only to current bunker fuel sources). The solar report apparently used solar costs from several years back. The difference to me seems that Glick & Green et al. just doubled down on the bad and biased math, whereas the UHERO folks are going back to amend and update the solar report.

The trick of course is to find some source of info that is objective and not just advocacy, which Gov. Green is clearly engaged in on behalf of JERA and the several-years-away-if-at-all LNG plant.

randomq has the right of it - import your personal power plant once (available now! operators are standing by!) and make the most of it for the next couple decades with the free fuel falling out of the sky each day. Helps keep your participation in, and dependence on, the political shenanigans of power generation to a minimum.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

comparisons (which did not include cost comparisons to wind/solar/geothermal, only to current bunker fuel sources).

So, existing generating capacity (bunker) vs. additional not yet constructed capacity?  Yes, LNG is not yet constructed either, but for whatever reason (nighttime capacity?) that’s the proposal.  It may not be the ideal, the ideal which you and I could live with, but many people would struggle adjusting their power use to sun and wind conditions.  

Geothermal, the needs of the many outweigh the imaginations of the few?

[HiloJulie]

I wish Tam luck, but hear his words, the ideas you all have shared of his, and hear exuberance and zeal, which is tempered by my memories of those that have taken that ride before him.

I too wish Tam luck. 

But speaking of tempered memories, you more or less have described every new candidate who ever ran for any election.

The thing that I see in Tam is the gusto, drive and initiative to take on the State politicians with a "punch back" personality instead of the sheepish roll over lap dogs we currently have in both the House and the Senate representing Puna and Hilo.

In addition, he has the educational chops that bring sensible logic to the table and is very well spoken unlike our current State congressional incumbents who have difficulty most times trying to utter out a 5-word sentence.

Good luck Tam! You got my vote!

[Durian Fiend]

Edge - Now that Gov Green has been proven correct about the accuracy of the solar vs natural gas report…
Um... what? The LNG report forgot to include the cost of, you know, the LNG in making their comparisons (which did not include cost comparisons to wind/solar/geothermal, only to current bunker fuel sources). ..

Green was correct that Roberts' now deleted report was "baloney".  In addition to the AI generated gross error,  

"After recognizing that error, Roberts conducted an internal audit of the report. That process brought a few additional mistakes to light, including one that inflated the costs of JERA’s project."

Plus:  "...HECO also took issue with the assertion that so-called soft costs alone are what make developing solar projects more costly on Oʻahu than on the mainland. 
“Ignoring the premium on the cost and availability of labor, the cost of shipping, the cost of land, the cost of steel, concrete and heavy equipment,” Kelly said, “doesn’t reflect the true cost of the ‘fundamentals’ in Hawai‘i.”

Not to mention:

"HECO said the study “largely ignores the impracticality of covering 31,000 acres on Oahu – about 60% of developable land — with solar panels and batteries.”

https://www.civilbeat.org/2026/06/oahu-n...er-plants/

[ironyak]

Julie - Good luck Tam! You got my vote!
FYI, Hawai'i House District 4 Map vs Hawai'i House District 3 Map

Good luck Todd instead? ;)

Fiend - Green was correct that Roberts' now deleted report was "baloney".
So if the UHERO solar report (that is being reviewed and re-worked) is "baloney" then what is the LNG report that doesn't include the cost of LNG - spam? (and not even da kine spam, more like the inedible Spam Lite flavor) Maybe HECO can put out a report boosting their plans for their bio-fuel conversion project that doesn't mention the unique mix of costs for biofuels or their land requirements, and it can be called Portuguese sausage, and we'll have a full breakfast plate special!

Obviously simplifying the complexities of energy generation down to processed food equivalents is silly and juvenile, but I guess you got to meat the voters where they're at. ;)

As the UHERO folks don't appear to be paid supporters for a particular project, you might be able to take them at their word that "we are correcting those [errors] too, in the open, because the standard is accuracy, not advocacy,” Roberts said in a written statement shared with HPR."

Or maybe they're all corrupt and on the take, as is the style of the time, and people can just roll their own power solutions (solar = easy; LNG/bio-fuel/geothermal/nuclear = a bit more tricky) and not have to argue over the best pork barrels-of-polluting-fuel project to endorse.

[MyManao]

The thing that I see in Tam is the gusto, drive and initiative to take on the State politicians with a "punch back" personality instead of the sheepish roll over lap dogs we currently have in both the House and the Senate representing Puna and Hilo.

The thing I see is a lot of talk, and an eye towards what kine talk will stimulate the masses, but no knowledge of the facts. No experience building consensus. Just his rap on Pohoiki.. 

It's like Harry Kim. He was great as long as he was able to work independent of others. His role as CD admin was perfect.. he was a mini god. Do what he says or you lose. As mayor he walked a line between lead by fiat and having to coexist, work with others towards a common goal. But he would never have been able to work as a member of the council. He just wasn't suited towards any office that required consensus at every turn. And the council is just a handful of folks.. going to state requires working with ten times as many..

From my perspective thinking that one can bluster their way through the state legislature is a recipe for disaster. A waste of time, and even more than that a continued confirmation that Puna isn't serious about working with the rest of the state towards common goals. One may not agree with the goals but there's no getting around the fact that that's the job. There's a vast difference between being able to get the vote, and being able to do something constructive once one has it. Look at the voting records of survivors.. the long term members of the house and senate. There's a reason they're still there.. and it ain't because of gusto and pushing back.

Getting the vote is a popularity contest. Delivering the goods at the end of the day is a real work of art. Unfortunately the two rarely have much to do with each other. And, as I said, the guys in town have the thing wired. Someone showing up from the boonies has a long row to hoe before they can play to any consequence. But like I said I wish Tam, as much as I wish all the others, good luck!

And worry not Jules, you can vote for anyone on the ballot they send you. It's always tailored to the district you are in. So you no need straighten out Tam or Todd or whoever..