Some who were once strongly opposed to geothermal energy say they are now joining the effort.
In the 80′s geothermal energy was an extremely controversial topic.
"30 years ago people came to Hawaii to develop our resources without talking to us, their model didn’t provide for any benefit," said Mililani Trask of Indigenous Consultants.
Taking what some call a gift from Madame Pele to power Hawaii homes resulted in protestors and a lawsuit that made its way to the Supreme Court. Now former opponents say tapping into the Hawaii energy source is a good alternative to fossil fuels.
"Today we see that geothermal energy is really an asset of our own public trust and that it should be developed for our own energy security but today we will develop it in an appropriate way," Trask says.
So why the change of heart?
"I think Hawaii’s energy crisis and fiscal crisis had a great deal to do with it," Trask says.
Hawaii-based Innovations Development Group has already established a geothermal power project in Aotearoa, New Zealand. They say they’ve produced a better model that will work on Maui and Hawaii Island and their purpose is to offer community partnerships
"We want to avoid what happened the last time the community shut it down because there was no real engagement," said Robbie Cabral of Innovations Development Group. "We export somewhere between $7 billion to $8 billion, which is a lot of money that could remain in these islands if we took a look at exploring geothermal vast resource."
In the next couple of months the company will submit a bid with the hope of being selected to work with HECO to provide energy for the state.
"Depending on the permitting process we could be out the door in four years and that would be great," Cabral says.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
