The Lahaina Energy Partnership's energy plan is entering its second phase of development.
The group formed in response to the August 2023 wildfires to ensure that the Lahaina community played a central role in determining their town’s energy future.
The partnership, which includes Lāhainā Strong, Hā Sustainability, and Shake Energy Collaborative, has held community workshops over the past nine months to identify possible energy solutions for Lahaina.
Paʻele Kiakona of Lāhainā Strong said this work is an important part of addressing the systemic issues that helped to create conditions for a devastating blaze to burn through Lahaina almost two years ago.
“This is a very unique opportunity where the community actually gets a chance to speak on what they want their future to look like,” Kiakona said.
Hā Sustainability’s Alex de Roode said the first phase of partnership's work had dual goals: determining the energy needs of the Lahaina community, and educating the community on different energy strategies.
After the workshop series, the group assembled community feedback into a final report detailing several energy pathways the community wants to pursue.
The top picks are low-impact hydropower, microgrids, rooftop solar, undergrounding utility lines, and community ownership of energy infrastructure.
As the development process transitions into its next phase, experts with National Renewable Energy Laboratory will assist the partnership in assessing the technical feasibility of each of the strategies identified in the report.
A few of those experts will be present at the partnership's next community meeting. It will be held on Thursday from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the County of Maui Office of Recovery at Lahaina Gateway.
"We're really looking forward to hearing from the community at this workshop about anything that they think might be missing from the scope [of the report]," said Robin Burton with NREL.
Phase II is expected to take 18 months and will culminate in an implementation plan. Community engagement will continue throughout the process.
"One thing we are making sure we do along the way is not create this plan in a silo," said de Roode.
He also emphasized the importance of taking into account the Lahaina community's past experiences with different energy projects, especially hydropower.
Hydropower has a long history in West Maui
The Pioneer Mill Company harnessed hydropower shortly after the turn of the century to support its sugar mill operations. De Roode said that while plantation hydropower offered local energy resilience, it had its drawbacks.
"It wasn't the cleanest form of power, and the ownership of that was not in the hands of the community," he said.
Kiakona said discussions about hydropower also need to reflect ongoing community concerns about water access in West Maui.
"If you've ever had any conversations with any of the leadership in Lahaina, it always ends up tying back to water availability, the inequalities of water ownership," he said.
Kiakona said the community is interested in the potential of using treated wastewater for energy generation.
Maui County previously pumped that water back into the ground, but it is phasing out that practice in response to a court ruling that found the county in violation of the Clean Water Act.
Kiakona said that water could be utilized for hydroelectric power.
"Rather than letting something go to waste, we try to look at it as a resource," Kiakona said.
As energy planning continues, the Lahaina Energy Partnership is encouraging more community members to get involved.
Keaʻa Davis works with Shake Energy Collaborative, which provides support to grassroots energy groups. She said that the partnership is working to ensure their process is accessible as possible.
"There is not an expectation that people are coming in with energy expertise. We bake the capacity building and education into the process itself. So don't worry if you're coming with minimal experience," she said.
Find details on how to register for the July 24 workshop here.
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