Tam Hunt - PGV Statement

[MyManao]

nor taking on the nonsense DHHL is trying to hitch their wagon to by, yeah, getting the sappy taxpayer to fork over another 15 million to explore more geothermal all over God's Green Hawaii.

What "nonsense"? 

Don't you want geothermal energy? Isn't it the cheapest, least toxic, most robust and efficient way to power the entire state with the smallest environmental impact? What other means of such a stable 24/7/365 days a year source, is there? It doesn't create waste. The equipment used is minimal, the land that is needed is minimal, and the end product is more powerful than any other option on the table. 

So, 15 million, ie chump change when we think of how much they threw at Pohoiki, is nothing, and all the work is to be done by DHHL and their contractors. In other words, a very small investment for something that has to be done, no matter who does it, if we are going to take advantage of such a golden opportunity as geothermal throughout the state.

And we should, right? You don't have an argument against geothermal do you? Or are you against this approach in favor of another to achieve the same thing?

Seriously, what about what DHHL's plans, as you so vehemently insist, is "nonsense"?

[HiloJulie]

What "nonsense"?

Do you often read half the sentence one writes and formulate your questions and opinions?

If you read the entire sentence, your question has already been answered.

[Durian Fiend]

"Protect and expand PGV. Geothermal at 88% capacity factor is the irreplaceable foundation of the island’s clean energy system. The PGV repower EIS should be approved and expedited. No other technology on this island can provide comparable firm baseload renewable capacity at comparable cost. The Robust scenario calls for expansion to 60 MW." (Tam Hunt - June 17th, 2026)

to:

"Where I Stand on Geothermal and PGV: No further expansion, and no new drilling in Lava Zone 1. Beyond the repower regulators have already approved, new generation on this island should be solar, wind, and storage — cheaper, safer, cleaner, and not sitting on an active rift zone." (Tam Hunt - July 12th, 2026)

In the whole context of both blog postings, and I will state that Tam may have said what he said somewhat confusingly, but what I read what Tam is initially saying is to protect and expand the CURRENT PGV to the 60MW repower plan, which requires no new wells, which is also awaiting approval, to him being against any further expansion requiring new wells at PGV as well as anywhere else in Zone 1, nor taking on the nonsense DHHL is trying to hitch their wagon to by, yeah, getting the sappy taxpayer to fork over another 15 million to explore more geothermal all over God's Green Hawaii.

So, I ask, taken in total context, what changed? What is the flip flop? 

Now, what does Greggor say about this? Anybody? Greggor? You out there?

I believe the phase 2 expansion does require new wells.   Hunt is mostly critical of PGV in particular, claiming to not be in opposition to geothermal. And yet, he criticizes DHHL for seeking exploratory funds and clearly sees geothermal expansion as inferior to the development of more solar and wind farms.  OK, where would they be?

Greggor seems to be on the same page with pandering to the anti geothermal crowd, but has not come out in opposition to further researching and expanding geothermal energy sources.

[HiloJulie]

And we should, right? You don't have an argument against geothermal do you? Or are you against this approach in favor of another to achieve the same thing?

Seriously, what about what DHHL's plans, as you so vehemently insist, is "nonsense"?

First, no, I do not oppose geothermal in principle.

Further, I don't think the use of the word "vehemently" is appropriate, but I do get the need you have to always, consistently and at every turn, lay down some form of a subtle inference to embellish the point(s) you are trying to make in response to others, so I'll gladly answer the reason I find the DHHL plan to be "nonsense."

First, why should the taxpayer be forced to pay to find sources of power generation? And why do we need to spend taxpayer money exploring what we already know is a known commodity? 

And then, putting this under the DHHL auspices, to me, is the real sham going on here. First, DHHL needs to trim its close to 30K waiting list of putting Hawaiians into homes, that the taxpayer has paid hundreds of millions for them to do so.

Secondly, DHHL has no "contractors" to do this work, it's not like we have Ormat and then Kimo's Geothermal, Inc., to do this. So, in effect, this would basically be DHHL sitting on top of all of the same already established contractor(s) who do this work. Like how the MEBE/WEBE system works on Federal contracts. DHHL is more or less in place as a "figurehead."

Thirdly, where is HECO or more appropriately, outside venture capital in developing geothermal anywhere in the State of Hawaii?

As I see it, having this as a DHHL mission is an attempt at initially getting the taxpayer to take on all the liabilities and risks, then, if successful, turn it over to a monopoly for others to reap the benefits and if not successful, thank you Mr. and Mrs. taxpayer.

And speaking of Pohoiki do you honestly think that there is a way to construct a boat ramp that, can withstand Mama Nature, excepting another massive volcano eruption and subsequent lava flow, that will not be near a 100 million to construct? Taxpayers paying of course.

And also speaking of the entire Pohoiki area that got hit with the last lava flow, did you read Tam's novel approach to what could be done TODAY for mere pennies on the taxpayer dollar? Here, have a read:

The cheapest bike lanes we’ll ever build are being paved now in Lower Puna | by Tam Hunt | Jul, 2026 | Medium

I believe the phase 2 expansion does require new wells. 

No, it does not. Just new equipment.

Scroll to Page 13 of 120, Section 1.2 PROPOSED ACTION:

Puna-Geothermal-Venture-Repower-Project

[Durian Fiend]

His idea for bike lanes on the new road is a good one.

I came across this 6 year old interview of Henk Rogers by Hunt. Given the wording of his statements and questions here, Hunt has always been skeptical of geothermal and this man clearly did not move his opinion:

...Hunt: Does wind power have a future in Hawaii, or do you think we should go mostly solar, because of reduced opposition to low-profile solar projects?

Rogers: Wind power does have a future in Hawaii, especially on the Big Island, but you leave out the biggest potential energy source in the state: geothermal. There is more than enough energy under the Big Island to power the entire state for the rest of time. I’ve been to Iceland and I’ve seen how it transformed their economy without any detrimental environmental or cultural damage. Quite the opposite, geothermal put Iceland on the world map. They went from being a distant fishing community using coal for heat and energy to being 100% renewable and becoming the biggest producer of aluminum in Europe.

Hunt: Geothermal is more complicated in Hawaii because of our active volcanoes. Do you support an expansion of our geothermal energy supply even with active volcanoes Kilauea, Mauna Loa and Hualalai, all areas that would be, by necessity, the potential locations for additional geothermal facilities? Our one existing plant, Puna Geothermal Ventures, was quite lucky to escape complete destruction in the 2018 Kilauea eruption, but it has yet to come back online.

Rogers: Geothermal may be more complicated, but not as complicated as not doing it. As long as we don’t put all our eggs in one basket by building one massive plant, we should be fine. Geothermal means volcanic activity no matter where you go. Puna Geothermal was indeed spared. I believe the reason that it’s not yet on-line is transmission lines are still down. Any source of power that includes transmission lines is equally vulnerable.

Hunt: Given the difficulties with geothermal and biomass, do you see the Big Island’s energy future consisting of a large majority of solar, wind and battery storage, with perhaps some hydrogen production and storage for long-term storage if that’s required (a recent Wartsila study didn’t find any hydrogen storage required for Hawaii due to our climate)?

Rogers: If we’re smart, geothermal will become the biggest source of renewable energy on the Big Island. If we’re really smart, geothermal will produce serious amounts of hydrogen, enough to export to other Hawaiian islands as a back-up fuel for the intermittent energy sources, wind and solar. If we’re geniuses, we will set up a massive hydrogen export business and sell hydrogen to Japan. We could be the Saudi Arabia of hydrogen...

https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2020/10/21/h...le-hawaii/

[Obie]

One thing I like to do these days is to look at a candidates criminal record. Greggors comes up with no results, Tam's records come back with a few revelations. 1st he has a disregard for traffic laws especially speeding . He let most of these go to collection before paying.

@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTP-25-106504 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 12-DEC-2025
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-25-016761 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 02-APR-2025
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-25-022877 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 19-MAR-2025
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTC-25-016369 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 19-MAR-2025
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-24-026037 - State v. Tamlyn Hunt Defendant 25-MAR-2024
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-24-004842 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 08-JAN-2024
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-23-017196 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 12-APR-2023
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-21-026506 - State v. Merryan Tamlyn Hunt Defendant 10-NOV-2021
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-21-023831 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 24-JUN-2021
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-20-043366 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 07-AUG-2020
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-20-043966 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 27-JUL-2020
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-19-022933 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 13-FEB-2019
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-18-038783 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 11-DEC-2018
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-14-002968 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 27-MAR-2014
@1991454 Hunt , Tamlyn M 3DTI-14-002273 - State v. Tamlyn M Hunt Defendant 20-MAR-2014

He has sued the department of taxation about some grievance he had with several employees and then dropped it when he was reprimanded for not following court rules.

Not a very honest person either, advertising as a lawyer in Hawaii .

https://www.lawyers.com/pahoa/hawaii/tam...2436268-a/

[HiloJulie]

Yeah, ole Tam is Speedy Gonzales, that's for sure. At least no DUI's. 

And findalawyer.com is an AI generated collator of data. Tam is a lawyer, licensed in California, but not practicing in Hawaii. The finadalawyer.com link shown above is just pulling public information and was not created or made by Tam.

Now, have you heard about squeaky clean Greggor's campaign donors yet?

Another interesting read:

Greggor Ilagan holds Puna’s House seat, but the money points to Honolulu | by Tam Hunt | Jul, 2026 | Medium

   

[ironyak]

Punatang - Seems like just last week folks were saying things like: Someone posted: Tam at least seems to know his stuff, which is good given he's running for Hawaii House District 4."
Yes, in the context of "the County General Plan isn't a UN Agenda 2045 to take your truck", Tam seems to know his stuff. In regards to public health and obeying the speed limit, apparently not so much.

Durian Fiend - https://pv-magazine-usa.com/2020/10/21/h...le-hawaii/
Interesting find (even has a Steiner comment at end), thanks! Personally, I find the disconnect from ""Protect and expand PGV" to "No further expansion" to be a change in at least the tone and selling of his stance, if not the substance. Deciding that the currently allowed 60 MW at PGV is the limit for geothermal, for "reasons", seems like ideological grandstanding over practical realities.

There's still like 180 MW of oil-based energy generation on island that needs to be replaced in the coming years. As randomq pointed out, looking at inflows vs outflows and land use analysis are highly favorable for geothermal so saying geothermal has no larger role to play in this energy transition is just a silly self-imposed limitation now being used to pander to anti-PGV folks.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Hunt: Geothermal is more complicated in Hawaii because of our active volcanoes. (From #135]

Does he realize Iceland has 35 active volcanoes?  With geothermal and hot springs resorts near at least one?
https://nautil.us/iceland-is-going-to-er...on-1280632

Edited # of active volcanoes.

[leilanidude]

Hunt: Geothermal is more complicated in Hawaii because of our active volcanoes. (From #135]

Does he realize Iceland has 135 active volcanoes? With geothermal and hot springs resorts near at least one?
https://nautil.us/iceland-is-going-to-er...on-1280632

Accuracy is not a requirement for Hawaii politics...