HAWAIIAN HOMES COMMISSION GRANTS RIGHT-OF-ENTRY PERMIT AND LEASE FOR WIND ENERGY EXPLORATION IN KAHIKINUI

News Release from DHHL, November 23, 2015

KAPOLEI, HAWAII – Last week the Hawaiian Homes Commission voted unanimously to proceed with an alternative energy wind project proposed by NextEra Energy Resources on Hawaiian home lands in Kahikinui, Maui.

At its annual Maui meeting last Tuesday, the HHC approved an initial three-year right-of-entry permit to Boulevard Associates, LLC, a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Resources, to survey 500 acres of land on the southern flank of Haleakala for wind power generation. NextEra Energy Resources will pay the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands (DHHL) $175,000 per year for the three-year permit.

If NextEra Energy Resources decides to proceed with the project, it would enter into a 20-year general lease with the DHHL, with lease rent contingent upon completion of a power purchase agreement (PPA).

NextEra Energy Resources is proposing a 20-turbine wind project on approximately 30 acres of Kahikinui land with a total generating capacity of 60 megawatts. The energy would likely be sold to Maui Electric Company under a PPA, and a community benefits package totaling $300,000 per year would also be provided directly to the community of Hawaiian homesteaders residing in Kahikinui over the course of the 20-year lease.

“In the short run, the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands receives income while Boulevard conducts its due diligence. In the long run, if a lease is executed, this project will provide DHHL with much-needed revenue to place more native Hawaiian families onto DHHL lands,” said Jobie Masagatani, Hawaiian Homes Commission Chair, “In line with the Governor’s commitment to achieve 100 percent renewables, this would be the first wind farm project on DHHL lands.”

For more information on the project, including responses to beneficiary and public comments and questions regarding the project, visit the DHHL Beneficiary Consultation page at http://dhhl.hawaii.gov/po/beneficiary-consultation/

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