Proponents of small wind systems got a lift this week when the county attorney said a proposed bill designed to streamline the permitting process would not open the county to legal or financial liability should an applicant's windmill kill an endangered seabird. The announcement, delivered by Deputy County Attorney Ian Jung, who specializes in planning issues and advises the Kaua‘i Planning Commission. ...While Jung's statement could go a long way to resolving one issue standing in the way of the bill's passage, there are several other factors that have yet to be addressed.

Most Molokai residents who attended last Thursday's meeting would be happy if the deal never went through. First Wind's current plan calls for the installation of up to 20 turbines on Hawaiian Homestead land in Ho`olehua, followed by as many as 60 turbines on Molokai Ranch land.

The Oregon developer looking to erect wind turbines on a Kahuku ridge is moving forward with permitting for the project. West Wind Works wants to put up 10 wind turbines for a project it's calling Na Pua Makani, which is expected to generate 25 megawatts of renewable energy.

"The real issue is that you have a high penetration wind environment" in the electric utility, says Juan de Bedout, the global technology leader for power conversion systems at GE Global Research in New York. That means the amount of energy on the island that comes from unstable wind is very high in proportion to the total demand for power - 15 to 30 percent.

Maui Electric Co.'s sales, measured in kilowatt-hours, are down nearly 10 percent this year, a drop that tracks closely with declining visitor arrivals, said company President Ed Reinhardt. Before the island's economic downturn and fewer visitors coming to the island, MECO had been forecasting that it would need its next increment of firm power generation in 2011. Earlier this year, because of declining demand, it revised that forecast to 2014.

There are several costly projects pending, and while some developers say even today money will be available, the closer the project, the further off the lenders seem to be. Money problems have stalled two projects being pursued by Kent Smith and his partner, Hilton Unemori - a biomass generator at Hamakua on the Big Island that was to have been fueled by eucalyptus wood and an expansion of Kaheawa wind farm on Maui.

Kilauea farmer Sam Pangdan sensed change was in the air when it came to erecting wind turbines on his property. Nearly a year and a half later, he is still waiting for that change to blow through the county Planning Commission, which worries the alternative energy resource could be a hazard for endangered birds and bats. "We have competing interests between clean energy and birds," said Commissioner Hartwell Blake, at a commission meeting last month.

Kahuku resident Kent Fonoimoana said he feels a proposed site for wind turbines to generate electricity is too close to his home. "It's not good if it's right here," he said, noting that West Wind Works LLC's site is about a quarter mile away. "It's going to have a negative impact on property values."

First, he ripped out the pineapples. Then he put up Four Seasons hotels and luxury homes. Next, he envisions 200 windmills towering next to a Hawaiian beach. ..."It's a place a lot of people use for hunting deer, fishing and diving," said Robin Kaye, 62, a retired photographer who lives on Lanai. "Why should this island be the power generator for Oahu? Let them build a wind farm there."

Hawaiian Electric Co. announced a plan Tuesday to buy wind energy from both Lanai and Molokai. As part of the proposed arrangement, Castle & Cooke will scale back its Lanai wind farm from 400 megawatts to 200. The overall deal could be considered in its infancy, considering all the steps that must fall into place, including environmental impact studies and land acquisition on Molokai.

The draft environmental impact statement for the expansion of Kaheawa wind farm is open for public comment. Since the project is next to the existing farm overlooking Maalaea, much of the information parallels the studies done for the project that went into operation in 2006. The expansion, proposed for 333 acres of state land, would be smaller than Kaheawa I: 14 1.5-megawatt towers, compared with 20 currently in operation.

Winds of doubt are swirling around one Northeast-based wind farm developer with projects in Hawai'i. Newton, Mass.-based First Wind (formerly known as UPC Wind) has found itself one of the targets of an ongoing investigation conducted by the New York attorney general's office. ...The probe of is of special interest to island energy and business affairs, since First Wind has built and operates a wind farm on Maui and has designs for more farms on Moloka'i and on O'ahu. ...While First Wind enjoys a good reputation in Hawai'i, developments in towns like Cohocton provide a less savory picture of the wind developer. Which image will be believed may depend on the results of the New York AG office's investigation of the firm, which have not yet been released.

First Wind, a wind energy company that has pledged $50 million to help buy Molokai Ranch lands, is under investigation on the mainland for allegations of improper dealings with public officials and anti-competitive practices. New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began investigations in July to find out if the company obtained land-use agreements with residents and public officials through bribes and submitted false statements for permits and during environmental studies.

At the Blue Ginger Cafe, several residents who talk about a plan for a major wind farm on Lanai are worried the new technology will lead to the end of game hunting on their island. "If they going to stop hunting, that's going to be a bad thing to do," said Sam Shin, a retired pineapple worker. "It's going to cause problems." Castle & Cooke Resorts LLC is developing a plan to build a 300-megawatt wind farm on its land in northwestern Lanai, an area frequented by hunters.

Plans to build the largest wind farm in the state on Lana'i are part of a vision to make the island a model of renewable energy, but the project is encountering some headwinds in the form of community concern. Not all Lana'i residents are pleased with the plans of David Murdock, the billionaire who owns 98 percent of the island, to develop a $750 million wind farm for exporting power to O'ahu via undersea cable. ...concerns about Murdock's plans led 32 Lana'i residents to sign a letter published by The Advertiser on Aug. 10 in which the author, Robin Kaye, questioned how the plan would affect access, the environment and whether it would benefit Lana'i residents. Murdock doesn't need a vote of approval from residents to develop the wind farm, but opposition could delay or derail his plans.

The company is seeking an incidental take permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and has prepared a draft habitat conservation plan and environmental assessment to minimize the effects on the endangered Hawaiian petrel ('ua'u), the endangered Hawaiian stilt (ae'o), the endangered Hawaiian hoary bat ('ope'ape'a), and the threatened Newell's shearwater ('a'o). Six of the seven 165-foot towers already have been built on land owned by Castle & Cooke. The company plans to build the remaining tower and operate all seven for a period of up to two years to collect data on wind patterns, according to permit documents.

A fire that started in an area above the windmills near Maalaea on Maui had burned approximately 95 acres as of this morning, according to state Department of Forestry and Wildlife (DOFAW) officials. ...The fire burned portions of a threatened and endangered species habitat, but it is unknown if any species were affected. ...Wind farm workers used a 4,000-gallon water tanker to shuttle water to the scene. ...The cause of the fire is under investigation.

While everyone seems to want more sources of renewable energy on Maui, residents who spoke at a recent Public Utilities Commission hearing weren't too thrilled with the idea of having to help pay for it. Hawaiian Electric Co. and its subsidiaries, including Maui Electric Co., have asked the commission to approve an across-the-board monthly rate increase for each Maui County customer of about $1.80 a month for renewable energy infrastructure. ...MECO President Ed Reinhardt explained that this increase is necessary for the company to build the renewable energy infrastructure it needs to attract private investors and to build transmission lines and substations to sites that are always remote. "So if HECO selects remote locations why should we have to pick up the tab," said Rob Parsons, former county environmental coordinator.

A Maui wind farm operator has filed a complaint against Maui Electric Co. and its parent, Hawaiian Electric Co., with the state Public Utilities Commission. UPC Hawaii Holdings, which runs the Kaheawa Wind Power farm above Maalaea, is asking the commission to investigate the process the utility used in selecting a second wind farm project for the island. UPC Hawaii had proposed expanding its current 20-turbine farm, which supplies 30 megawatts of power to Maui Electric, to add another 21 megawatts of power. But HECO selected another project bid by Shell Wind for a farm in Ulupalakua on the east side of Maui. HECO spokesman Peter Rosegg said the decision was based on location.

Hawaiian Electric Co. is offering its data on wind conditions and bird activities in the Kahuku area of Oahu to anyone who wants to go into the wind-energy business. The utility spent millions to develop a wind farm near Kahuku in the 1980s, but pulled the plug after a series of technological and logistical problems made the project untenable.