PUHI — The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative celebrated its 10th anniversary by outlining its accomplishments during the year and anticipating its coming year, Thursday before about 200 members who attended the annual membership meeting at the Kaua‘i Community College Performing
PUHI — The Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative celebrated its 10th anniversary by outlining its accomplishments during the year and anticipating its coming year, Thursday before about 200 members who attended the annual membership meeting at the Kaua‘i Community College Performing Arts Center.
“In the past year, KIUC made significant progress toward generating 50 percent of our energy from renewable sources,” said Teofilo “Phil” Tacbian, chairman of the KIUC board. “Toward that end, KIUC continued its efforts in three areas: hydro(electric), solar and biomass. Our strategic plan obligates us to reach this goal by 2023.”
Headlining the move toward its renewable sources of power generation, Tacbian said KIUC already installed a 1.5-megawatt battery storage system in Koloa last December, helping to capture and stabilize power generated by photovoltaic systems.
Additionally, Alexander & Baldwin broke ground and has already installed about 1.5 megawatts of a 6-megawatt photovoltaic system at Port Allen. KIUC will install a 3-megawatt battery storage system to complement the A&B system.
“We have partnered with the Homestead Community Development Corp. in Anahola to build a 12-megawatt PV project, Kaua‘i’s largest,” Tacbian said. “The contract for that project has been awarded; it is now in the environmental assessment stage and construction is scheduled to start in early 2013.”
One of the largest projects of the year involved the lowering of utility poles and moving some power lines underground along Kuhio Highway near Kealia Beach. The $3.5 million project is part of KIUC’s Habitat Conservation Plan to help remove obstacles encountered by native seabirds, states the annual report, which was distributed to all members.
David Iha, chair of the Strategic Planning Committee, said in 2011, KIUC started work on its smart grid initiative to update its infrastructure and to give its members high-technology tools they can use to manage their energy costs and to be more efficient.
“This includes the installation of smart meters, which will save KIUC more than $800,000 a year in reading and maintenance costs and ultimately, enable customers to access their energy usage information,” Iha said.
“We have also encouraged KIUC members to buy more energy-efficient appliances and to install solar water heaters through our rebates and bulb exchanges.”
He said through 2011, KIUC has given out more than 102,000 compact florescent light bulbs, representing a savings of nearly $9 million to customers who use the bulbs.
“We are continuing our work to develop new renewable sources,” Iha said. “We have 28 megawatts of solar and biomass currently under development with an additional 33 megawatts of solar and hydro under project review.”
He said KIUC is hopeful construction starts next year on the proposed biomass-to-energy plant in Koloa.
“The plan is fully permitted,” Iha said. “This $90 million plant would generate 6.7 megawatts, but has been challenged by financing issues. We are working closely with the developers to keep it on track.”
Overall, power from renewable resources accounted for 11 percent of KIUC sales in 2011 and we expect that number to hit 13 percent by the end of this year, he said.
Pat Gegan said more than 200 PV units were installed on Kaua‘i last year, bringing the total number of PV units installed to 616, producing nearly 5 megawatts during daylight hours.
“That’s 5 megawatts we don’t have to generate with an oil-fired power plant,” Gegan said.
KIUC President and CEO David Bissell re-iterated the project presentations, adding KIUC is planning on building another 12-megawatt system on the Southside some time in 2013.
“If all of these projects we’re talking about are built, Kaua‘i will have 32 megawatts of solar energy available, roughly half of our daytime load,” Bissell said. “We will also have more than 10 megawatts of battery storage to help stabilize our island grid as more renewable generation comes on line.”
Bissell said KIUC has also completed preliminary feasibility studies of five sites which can draw from Kaua‘i’s abundant water resources for hydroelectric power.
He said the KIUC smart grid initiative is ahead of schedule with more than 11,000 smart meters installed.
In the 10 years since KIUC changed from an investor-owned utility to one which is member-owned, the cooperative has gone from zero ownership equity to 23 percent in 2011, a stake which is now worth about $70 million, said Alan Smith, the Finance and Audit Committee chair.
“Nearly $1 million in patronage capital was returned to the members this month,” Smith said. “Over the past 10 years, this cooperative has returned $25 million to its members in the form of patronage capital and billing credits. That’s money which stays in this community.”
As a cooperative, KIUC and its 160 employees take seriously their obligation to contribute to the well-being and education of the community, the annual report states.
In 2011, KIUC donated $86,000 from Sharing of Aloha, the Corporate Fund, and the President’s Fund. Employees gave thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours to community nonprofits, including the Kaua‘i Independent Food Bank and the Kaua‘i United Way.
“Our work today is positioning Kaua‘i to be an international leader in the development of clean, reliable energy,” Bissell said. “More important, it’s securing our energy independence so our children and grandchildren do not have to worry about how economic and political turmoil around the world could affect our ability to produce power.”
Visit www.kiuc.coop for a full copy of the 2011 Annual Report. For those who prefer a hard copy of the report, visit KIUC at 4463 Pahe‘e Street in Lihu‘e, or call 246-4300.
