Listeners Stay Silent as Kauai Issues Are Aired

It’s a first – the absence of calls to Energy Futures on Monday’s program. True, Hawaii Public Radio has no repeater station on the island, and KIPO’s signal doesn’t exactly boom into Kauai. Maybe we need to clue in public radio supporters there to the “streaming audio” potential. What they may have missed on Monday is available now in HPR's website's archives section.

Guests Randy Hee, president of the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, and economist Ken Stokes of The Kauaian Institute kept the discussion going on energy alternatives on Kauai as they and others work to reduce the island’s dependence on imported oil.

Alan Kennett, president of Gay & Robinson, also joined the program by telephone to discuss the sugar company’s intention to shut down cane production at the end of this fall’s harvest.

Up next on Energy Futures: Darren Kimura, president and chief executive officer of Sopogy Inc., will be on the October 5th show to discuss concentrated solar energy and its potential to create heat, solar air conditioning and electrical power.

Kahuku Wind Farm Aiming for 2010 Operations

Two wind farms are slated for the hills above Kahuku on Oahu’s North Shore, and where do the calls to the Energy Futures show come from? Lanai. Go figure.

Maybe the lack of calls from the North Shore is testament to the community relations work being done by First Wind and West Wind Works, which intend to build farms of 30 and 25 megawatts respectively not far from Kahuku town.

Noelani Kalipi of First Wind said construction is slated for the spring if the company's permitting goes according to plan, with full operation anticipated by December 2010. West Wind Works’ Keith Avery also has hopes for a speedy resolution of its processes. (We forgot the camera, so there's no traditional in-studio photo at the top of this post.)

Today’s show will be archived by Tuesday afternoon at the Hawaii Public Radio website.

September 28th Show

We shift our sights from Oahu's North Shore to Kauai, which sometimes feels like the forgotten island when we start ticking off the energy initiatives around the state. Kauai is the only island not served by Hawaiian Electric Company and its subsidiaries. We'll interview Randy Hee, president of the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, to see what a customer-owned utility is doing to replace fossil fuel generation with renewable sources. Our second guest will be Ken Stokes of The Kauaian Institute, which advocates sustainability measures for the Garden Isle.

Energy Futures airs "live" from 5-6 pm each Monday on KIPO-FM (89.3 on Oahu) and streamed on the Internet.

Is NY Times Shadowing Energy Futures on HPR?

Has the Gray Old Lady been taking its cues from Energy Futures on Hawaii Public Radio? How else to explain the synchronicity of its coverage in today's paper with our program -- also today?

There’s probably another explanation, but we like that one. Our interview show with Hawaii County Councilman Pete Hoffmann (left) and County energy coordinator Will Rolston covered the range of major energy issues on the Big Island, as did the Times. We just did it in greater depth.

Check out the archived show on the HPR website for some insights you won’t find in the paper. It’ll be loaded by Tuesday afternoon.

Up next week: Noelani Kalipi of First Wind and Keith Avery of West Wind Works will be in the studio to discuss their wind farm plans for the Kahuku area on Oahu's North Shore. That's 5-6 pm Monday on KIPO-FM, 89.3 in Hawaii and streamed on the Internet.

Big in Size and Energy – the Big Island of Hawaii

The Upolu Point wind farm on the island of Hawaii.

Monday’s Energy Futures show on Hawaii Public Radio takes a close look at the most energy-diverse island in the state: the island of Hawaii.

Guests will be County Council member Pete Hoffmann and County energy coordinator Will Rolston. We’ll examine potential expansion of wind, solar, geothermal and other renewable resources to see how far from the 100-percent renewable goal the island is today.

Join us 5-6 pm on KIPO-FM, 89.3 in Hawaii and streamed on the Internet.

State Energy Chief In Return Visit on Summit, Etc.

Ted Peck assumes his familiar spot in HPR's studio today.

Hawaii Energy Administrator Ted Peck stepped in at the last minute (literally) as today’s guest on Energy Futures in place of Renewable Energy Facilitator Josh Strickler, whose excuse was the birth of his daughter. Congratulations to the Strickler family, and our thanks to Peck for being on the show – the first repeat visitor in our two-month run so far.

The announced topic was last week’s Asia-Pacific Clean Energy Summit in Honolulu, but we covered several ranging from Hawaii’s remarkable decrease in gasoline use in June ’09 compared to a year earlier (down 36.3 percent!) to ocean thermal energy conversion, the planned inter-island cable to transmit wind power from Lanai and Molokai to Oahu, as well as others.

As usual, the program will be archived at Hawaii Public Radio’s website sometime on Tuesday.

Happy Labor Day! Now…Let’s Get Down to Work

We’re trying to dry up our overwhelming reliance on imported oil and coal in Hawaii and do it in a couple decades, so who’s got time for holidays?

Not Ted Peck, state energy administrator, our guest Monday on Hawaii Public Radio’s Energy Futures program. We’ll devote the hour to discussing – and taking calls about – last week’s Asia-Pacific Clean Energy Summit, which ran for four days in Waikiki, and the several renewable technologies that were on center stage.

Join us 5-6 pm on KIPO-FM, 89.3 and streamed on the Internet. The number to call with your comments and questions is 941-3689 on Oahu and 1-877-941-3689 on the neighbor islands and beyond.