Hawaii Gas President and CEO Alicia Moy said Tuesday that the utility has yet to sit down with Gov. David Ige to show him the utility’s updated plans for bringing liquefied natural gas to the state.
Moy said she is hoping to show Ige Hawaii Gas’ recent agreement with a supplier of LNG to build the facilities needed to import bulk LNG into the state for $200 million. Ige came out against LNG in August, saying he would actively oppose the construction of any future LNG receiving stations in Hawaii because it would cost too much money.
“We haven’t taken him through the results of our findings,” Moy said during an editorial board meeting at the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “He was definitely concerned with the cost of the infrastructure, and, to be honest, a while ago when we first started this, we were looking at on-land storage. So, maybe that is what he is referring to, because that is expensive.”
Hawaii Gas, the state’s only gas utility, is hoping to be the main supplier of LNG in the state if regulators decide to make the switch from the low-sulfur fuel oil and coal now burned in Hawaii power plants.
The $200 million cost would cover the infrastructure to build an offshore station to collect and regasify the LNG, including a floating storage and regasification unit roughly a mile offshore, a subsea gas pipeline, a nitrogen injection station and onshore pipelines. The total pipeline extension requirements are estimated to be between 5 and 10 miles.
Hawaii Gas plans for LNG ships to deliver the fuel to a receiving ship moored off the coast of Kalaeloa. The receiving ship would convert the LNG from a liquid to a gas and send it down an undersea pipeline to a new gas facility onshore. The gas could then be piped to HECO and other power plants nearby. It also could be sent down an existing pipe to Honolulu Harbor.
Moy said the last time the company met with Ige was before he became governor. She said that the company plans to sit down with Ige’s administration and the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Hawaii Gas has a meeting set up for next week with DBEDT Director Luis P. Salaveria.
Moy said Hawaii Gas has not filed an application with the state Public Utilities Commission, but is planning to sometime this year. PUC approval is needed for the project to go forward.
“We still have a lot of education and outreach to do,” Moy said. “We’re not going forward with this project. We’re not going forward with filing right now. We want to make sure we have a discussion with stakeholders and come to a collective view of how this could work for a state.”
Using LNG instead of oil to fire Hawaii power plants would have saved ratepayers $132 million in fuel costs last year, Hawaii Gas said. The “binding bid” with the LNG supplier includes building the infrastructure for $200 million and supplying LNG for 15 years.
Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc., the state’s largest utility, has a different plan for LNG. HECO wants to be the importer instead of buying the fuel from Hawaii Gas.
“We’ve had discussions in the past,” Moy said. “We’ve reached out to Hawaiian Electric recently.”
Moy said that the company also has reached out to HEI’s suitor, NextEra Energy Inc., about Hawaii Gas’ LNG plans.
Moy said it was important to understand the specifics of Hawaii Gas’ plans before writing off the use of LNG for the state.
“LNG is not the same,” Moy said. “You have to think about how it is delivered, where it comes from and how the contracts are structured. I think all of those things have to be considered rather than just saying is LNG going to work for Hawaii or not.”
