Maui’s 1st Electricity
June 2, 2009 > MAUI TODAY, > Maui Yesterdays, U.S. Presidents No Comments |
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Rocky Road Day
HAWAIIAN WORD OF THE DAY — Uila: Electricity PIDGIN WORD OF THE DAY— Pawa: Electricity HAWAIIAN PROVERB OF THE DAY — “The torch that continues to burn in daylight.” HAOLE SAYING OF THE DAY — “God hates reality but realizes it’s still the only place to get a good steak.”(Woody Allen) WEB SURF SPOTS OF THE WEEK — Medical Marijuana ProCon | Industrial Hemp NORML (National Organization to Reform Marijuana Laws)
WEB VIDEO OF THE WEEK — The Magic Weed: History of Marijuana NETCAST OF THE WEEK — Marijuana Policy Project GOOD DEED SITE OF THE WEEK — Good Deed FoundationJune 2nd, 1901: Plans begin for the first electric plant on Maui, perhaps the last time altruism was involved in considerations of fuel and power on Maui. Most people think the Kahului plant was Maui’s first, but that didn’t go online until 1924. The first power came from cane and was in Puunene, in 1904, and that plant was quickly followed by the plant near the Paia sugar mill.We’ve come a long way. The Kahului plant is still working, something of a model of invention. Still, the plant spews such toxins into the valley air that it would not pass any other state’s pollution regulations. Further, there are no plans to take the plant offline in the next two decades.
MECO is still trying to go forward with its Pulehu power plant, a 20-megawatt facility it wants to bring online in 2011. This plant – a disaster of planning and timing – is scheduled to use up 1,000,000 gallons of imported diesel oil per day to run, oil which must be transporteted by trucks from the port to the facility. Five years ago, when the plant was first proposed, oil was $10 a barrel and those running MECO expressed their deep conviction that they would be shocked if oil reached $30 “for the foreseeable future.”
