HECO responds
to commentary
Earlier this week, Hawaiian Electric asked Hawaii Island customers to conserve electricity through April due to the unavailability of several large generators.
As Mr. Hugh Baker notes in his commentary published on March 27, “power plants are complex machines that sometimes break or need to be taken out of service for overhauls regardless of who owns them.” This is true. We are faced with an unusual, but temporary, situation.
However, we did not suggest that “power plants not owned by Hawaiian Electric are less reliable than those owned by the power company.” Several large generators are unavailable due to mechanical problems, annual overhaul, or reduced output, including some of our own equipment and units owned by independent power producers, including Hamakua Energy.
Hamakua Energy operates the largest generation facility on the island and is owned by Pacific Current, a subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, the parent company of Hawaiian Electric. The utility treats Hamakua Energy like any other independent power producer and complies with Public Utilities Commission rules that require complete separation of affiliates.
Independent power producers like Hamakua Energy supply about half of the island’s electricity. We agree with Mr. Baker that they are an important part of the generation mix.
Kristen Okinaka
Hawaiian Electric
Cockfighting should
not be tolerated
Regarding the March 15 headline for the story about cockfighting (“Hawaii residents oppose measure targeting cockfighting,” West Hawaii Today), it should say some residents oppose stricter laws against cockfighting. I know more who favor stricter laws, and also real enforcement of those laws.
Generally, I respect cultural traditions and beliefs, but some cultural traditions should not be tolerated, and that includes animal cruelty. There have been cultural traditions that included human sacrifice, including of children.
In some countries, it is a cultural tradition that women cannot drive a car, vote or be seen in public without full clothing coverage. In some cultures, female genital mutilation is a tradition.
Because something is a cultural tradition does not exempt it from basic laws of decency.
People used to believe that animals didn’t suffer pain or feel emotions. This has been proven untrue. Yes, even chickens have been shown to have emotions and more intelligence than once believed.
Anyone who gets their jollies from seeing, and betting on, animals mutilating and killing each other is sick.
Cockfighting is big business in Hawaii. It is rumored that it is now controlled by a syndicate, and these people are scary and dangerous. This practice must not be tolerated.
Gabrielle Kenton
Keaau
