Ka‘u residents angered by a massive solar energy project are changing county law to prevent another of its kind from landing in a residential area.
A policy added to the new draft of the Ka‘u Community Development Plan requires a special use permit for the commercial renewable energy projects that state law now allows outright on agricultural lands. The provision is in response to a planned 52-acre solar farm to be placed on 26 lots scattered through and around Hawaiian Ocean View Ranchos.
The Hawaii County Council will soon consider the adoption of the updated plan, now almost eight years in the making. The added provision will allow the public input that Ranchos residents say has been sorely lacking under state rules.
Global solar developer SPI Solar plans to begin installing some 30,000 panels in early 2016 and sell the electricity to Hawaiian Electric Light Co. for 23.6 cents per kilowatt hour under the Feed-In Tariff program designed to foster small renewable energy projects on agricultural lands around the state.
By breaking the massive project into 26 smaller, 250-kilowatt generation units, the solar developer is exploiting a poorly written state law that was never intended to benefit big companies, say Ranchos residents, whose attempts to fight the project have included the ultimately unfeasible concept of changing the entire zoning of their subdivision.
Homeowners worry about impacts to views and their property values, and potential fires from the solar arrays. And they question the value of a power supply being generated in a remote region far from an area with enough urban density to absorb the energy.
While the changes to the Ka‘u CDP are in response to the Ranchos project, other large subdivisions on agricultural land should take notice, said Loren Heck, an Ocean View resident who is on the CDP steering committee. Projects ranging from massive solar to a fertilizer plant could end up as anyone’s neighbor under current laws governing ag land, particularly in areas like Puna that have large, nonconforming subdivisions, Heck said. Because the uses are permitted outright, there is little opportunity for public involvement.
“This (revision) will protect us in the future, but our concern is now,” said Heck.
The state land use law, HRS 205-2, was amended in 2011 to allow solar energy projects — along with numerous other uses like commercial geothermal development, mills, wind farms and biofuel production — on ag land. Opponents say the law has failed to take into account that many subdivisions are located on land zoned agricultural.
The rule has had unintended consequences, Heck said.
“The state figures ag land is ag land, but they just didn’t consider the big, nonconforming subdivisions,” he said.
State Rep. Richard Creagan, D-Naalehu, said he has obtained a commitment from Oahu Rep. Chris Lee to revisit the law. Lee is chairman of the House Committee on Energy &Environmental Protection.
“The state law was so broad and unrestricted, it was unfortunate,” Creagan said. “The devil was in the details, and we didn’t put in the details.”
The Hawaii County Council took its own steps this month to gain a bigger say in where geothermal projects are placed in relation to homes. An amendment to the county’s general plan would keep geothermal out of urban areas and give authority over its development to the island’s dual planning commissions.
Sandy Shelton has gone door to door in Ocean View, gathering 470 signatures against the solar farm. Some residents have been caught completely off guard by the plan, she said.
“Solar companies should be required to take a holistic approach that protects the residents and the ecology of the area,” Shelton said.
In a place known for taking care of its own problems, several residents on different occasions have suggested the panels don’t stand a chance even if they are installed.
“People are madder than hell,” Shelton said. “They’re talking about destroying these things and doing everything they can to run these people out.”
A phone call to an SPI Solar spokesperson in California was not returned.