Hawaiʻi · briefs
Briefs
Each week the Ledger reads what is new on the record in every area and writes a short brief for the areas where something is happening. Every sentence links the record it comes from.
Island-wide
Oʻahu land use Nov. 2
Hawaiian Electric has asked the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission to let it borrow about $531 million through 30-year bonds, repaid through a new "infrastructure resilience charge" on electric bills, according to the utility's Oct. 9 application in Docket No. 2026-0235. [source]
The total covers up to $500 million in work, plus upfront financing costs. [source]
The utility lists three pieces: about $350 million for its 2025–2027 wildfire mitigation plan, about $31 million for added 2026–2027 wildfire work, and about $121 million for "Grid Mod Phase 2" equipment, such as substation controls and a private communications network. [source]
The filing is made under HRS chapter 269G, created by Act 258 of 2025; HECO says the law requires it to use bonds for the first $500 million of resilience work. [source]
HECO estimates the charge would add an average of $2.08 a month to residential bills across all its service areas. [source]
HECO compares that with the Exceptional Project Recovery Mechanism (EPRM), the recovery method the PUC approved in June, under which it estimates average monthly impacts over the first 30 years of $0.89 on Oʻahu (500 kWh), $4.86 on Hawaiʻi Island (500 kWh), $6.48 on Maui (500 kWh), $4.86 on Lānaʻi (400 kWh) and $5.38 on Molokaʻi (400 kWh). [source]
HECO says the EPRM would mean "significantly higher bill impacts on Hawai'i and Maui County compared to the securitization bill impacts." [source]
About 66% of the bond revenue would come from Hawaiian Electric (Oʻahu) customers, and about 17% each from Hawaiʻi Electric Light and Maui Electric customers. [source]
The bonds would save about $58 million in present-value terms over 30 years, HECO estimates, citing an estimated bond yield of 5.99%; HECO estimates its own borrowing would cost about 8.08%. [source]
In Decision and Order No. 42720 (June 25, 2026, Docket No. 2025-0263), the PUC approved about $350.3 million for the plan and its recovery through the EPRM, but prohibited HECO from collecting through the EPRM until the PUC issues an order addressing its bond application. [source]
Costs found ineligible for bond financing may still be recovered through the EPRM. [source]
HECO asks the PUC to rule "in any event within ninety (90) days after the last filing in this docket," and projects the bonds would be issued in September 2027, with a final payment date no more than 30 years after issuance. [source]
Hawaiian Electric confirmed it received the questions but did not respond to them by the 5 p.m. HST Oct. 27 deadline. (Hawai'i Ledger newsroom)
Ala Moana-Kakaʻako Sept. 20, older brief
On Sept. 24 the City Council's zoning committee takes up a resolution approving the conceptual plan for a mixed-use project at 1450 Ala Moana Boulevard, on 187,174 square feet inside the Ala Moana transit-oriented development plan area; the applicant is BSC Acquisitions II, LLC. [source]
DPP's file describes the project as a 38-story, 418-foot hotel with 291 rooms and a 17-story tower with 145 market-rate and 69 affordable rental apartments; the file and the resolution print different parcel numbers (2-3-038:014 and 2-3-038:041). [source]
The YMCA of Honolulu has asked to rezone its 1.77-acre parcel at 401 Atkinson Drive from high-density to medium-density apartment use. [source]
Nuʻuanu-Punchbowl Sept. 20, older brief
On Sept. 21 and 22 the Hawaiian Homes Commission is asked to find no significant impact for the Papakōlea Community Development Corporation's Native Hawaiian education and community center at Pūowaina. [source]
DPP's map lists a cluster housing permit for five two-unit homes and one single-unit home at 2041 Pūowaina Drive. [source]
Downtown-Chinatown Sept. 20, older brief
Bill 48 (2025), on pedestrian malls in downtown Honolulu, is back on the zoning committee's Sept. 24 agenda; it passed second reading last November, and the committee postponed action in April. [source]
Pearl City Sept. 20, older brief
The Planning Commission has a hearing set for Sept. 30 on the revised special use permit application for the Waiawa Correctional Facility, which the state Land Use Commission sent back in 2023 for a fuller record. [source]
ʻEwa Sept. 19, older brief
DPP's map lists two conditional use permits for events at Hoakalei's waterfront, including a lūʻau at the West Lagoon, and a new wastewater pump station for West Loch Estates. [source]
Waiʻanae Coast Sept. 19, older brief
The Board of Water Supply proposes a 4-million-gallon reservoir with about 9,600 feet of transmission line, the Kuwale 242 Reservoir project; the draft environmental assessment's comment period closed Sept. 8. [source]
DPP's map lists Special Management Area major permits for two new homes, one of them at 84-253 Farrington Highway. [source]
Mililani-Waipiʻo Sept. 20, older brief
On Sept. 25 the Board of Land and Natural Resources is asked to cancel a governor's executive order on two parcels in Waipiʻo and deed them to the Department of Education. [source]
DPP's map still carries the Mahi Solar file: in 2024 the Planning Commission gave the 120-megawatt solar facility five more years to be built. [source]
North Shore Sept. 19, older brief
The City Council's zoning committee has Bill 43 (2026) before it, which would rezone land at Paʻalaʻa Kai in Waialua from the country district to residential. [source]
DPP's map lists the Haleʻiwa Backyards request to move land out of the state agricultural district, along with shoreline-area permits for new homes, one with a hearing Oct. 23. [source]
The state water commission is set to review emergency stream-channel work on the North Shore on Sept. 22. [source]
Koʻolauloa Sept. 19, older brief
The City Council's zoning committee has on its Sept. 24 agenda a resolution granting a Special Management Area major permit for a new two-story home at 57-329 Pahipahiʻālua Street in Kahuku. [source]
The city's Department of Design and Construction is seeking a state land use district boundary amendment for 8.188 acres for its Lāʻie corporation yard and refuse convenience center. [source]
Six shoreline certifications along this coast have appeared in the Environmental Notice since July. [source]
Kahaluʻu Sept. 20, older brief
The state water commission is set on Sept. 22 to review emergency excavator work to remove immediate threats along Waiāhole Stream and, for a farm, along Waianu Stream in Waiāhole. [source]
DPP heard a Special Management Area permit in August for a new home and garage on a shoreline lot on Lulani Street. [source]
Kāneʻohe Sept. 19, older brief
DPP has two hearings set: on a conditional use permit to keep an existing group living facility, Kina Ole Estate, and on a Special Management Area permit for a new home, whose notice prints a weekday that does not match its date. [source]
The state water commission is set on Sept. 22 to review emergency stream-channel work in Kāneʻohe. [source]
A final environmental assessment with a finding of no significant impact was published for a new private dock and gangway on Kāneʻohe Bay. [source]
Kailua Sept. 19, older brief
The City Council's zoning committee took up Resolution 26-188 on Aug. 27, proposing to rezone land in Kailua. [source]
DPP's map lists two Special Management Area permit files for homes at Kaʻapuni, and the Environmental Notice has carried several shoreline certifications along the Kailua coast since June. [source]
Makakilo-Kapolei-Honokai Hale Sept. 19, older brief
Amazon US Real Estate LLC has asked the city to raise the height limit from 60 to 100 feet on 16.5 acres of its 31.6-acre parcel at 91-400 Malakole Street in Kapolei, zoned for industrial-commercial mixed use. [source]
On city land at 91-683 Wakea Street in Honouliuli, KP52 Developer, LLC seeks affordable-housing exemptions for Kapolei Parkway Lots 2 to 5. [source]
Two subsea telecommunication cable projects need Special Management Area permits for their landings. [source]
On Sept. 21 and 22 the Hawaiian Homes Commission takes up a consultation report on a proposed solid-waste-to-fuel and tire processing plant at Kalaeloa. [source]
No brief this week (too little new on the record): Hawaiʻi Kai, Kuliʻouʻou-Kalani Iki, Waiʻalae-Kāhala, Kaimukī, Diamond Head-Kapahulu-St. Louis Heights, Pālolo, Mānoa, McCully-Mōʻiliʻili, Waikīkī, Makiki-Tantalus, Liliha-ʻĀlewa, Kalihi-Pālama, Kalihi Valley, Āliamanu-Salt Lake, ʻAiea, Waipahu, Wahiawā-Whitmore Village, Waimānalo, Mililani Mauka-Launani Valley, Nānākuli-Māʻili.
Maui County
County of MauiWest Maui Sept. 19, older brief
By the county's count on its wildfire recovery dashboard, 604 homes in the Lahaina and Kula rebuild have passed final inspection, and 415 more are under construction. [source]
The planning director's Sept. 22 report lists an exemption from shoreline-area permitting for the state Department of Transportation's realignment of about 1,000 feet of Honoapiʻilani Highway near milepost 13, to address sea level rise and king tides, and a permit for archaeological testing for the highway project. [source]
On Sept. 22 the state water commission is scheduled to hear a status update on water use permit applications in the Lahaina Surface and Ground Water Management Area. [source]
Everything on the record that names Lahaina is gathered on one page. [source]
Kīhei-Mākena Sept. 19, older brief
The biggest item for South Maui is the plan itself: Bill 108 (2026) would replace the 1998 Kīhei-Mākena Community Plan with a new South Maui Community Plan, and the County Council's planning committee has taken it up six times since Sept. 14, with more sessions set for Sept. 21 and 23. [source]
Up the hill, the Maui Planning Commission accepted the final environmental impact statement for Mākena Mauka, a proposed low-density neighborhood with market-rate and workforce housing mauka of Mākena Alanui Road. [source]
The planning director's Sept. 22 report to the commission lists smaller shoreline-area permits and exemptions here, among them eight Tesla Superchargers at the Shops at Wailea and replacement cooling towers at the Fairmont Kea Lani. [source]
Wailuku-Kahului Sept. 19, older brief
The state's harbors division proposes to expand Kahului Harbor for more cargo space, vehicle parking and harbor operations; the draft environmental assessment's comment period closed Sept. 8. [source]
Comments are due Sept. 22 on federal highway money for a microgrid, with solar panels, vehicle chargers and battery storage, at the state Department of Transportation's baseyard at 650 Palapala Drive. [source]
Hale Makua Health Services plans to build the Hale Makua CarePlex healthcare facility in Kahului with federal Economic Development Administration funding. [source]
Molokaʻi Sept. 19, older brief
The Molokaʻi Planning Commission took up a shoreline-area permit on Sept. 11 for the Hawaiian Islands Fiber Link cable project at 25 Maunaloa Highway, on behalf of the State of Hawaiʻi. [source]
Two small shoreline-area permits in Kaunakakai were approved this summer, one to relocate a container used as an office and one to clear debris from vacant land. [source]
Lānaʻi Sept. 19, older brief
On Sept. 23 the state Land Use Commission, meeting in Kahului, is set to decide Pūlama Lānaʻi's petition to reclassify land for its Kōʻele project. [source]
At Mānele, the Army Corps of Engineers and the state have proposed repairs to the small boat harbor breakwater, and the Hawaiian Islands Fiber Link cable project has a permit for archaeological testing at the harbor. [source]
No brief this week (too little new on the record): Makawao-Pukalani-Kula, Pāʻia-Haʻikū, Hāna.
Hawaiʻi Island
County of HawaiʻiSouth Kohala Sept. 19, older brief
The County Council has before it a change of zone in Puʻukapu, Waimea, from 40-acre agricultural to one-acre family agricultural, so the owners can create two lots; the Leeward Planning Commission recommended it. [source]
Waikoloa Development Company has applied to the Planning Department for a shoreline-area assessment to build 243 multiple-family homes on 11 acres at the mauka end of Keana Place. [source]
The state's final environmental assessment for Kawaihae Commercial Harbor's cargo yard found no significant impact. [source]
North Kona Sept. 19, older brief
On Sept. 24 the Leeward Planning Commission takes up a request from Komo Brothers LLP to undo 1999 decisions that made about 7.8 acres makai of the Queen Kaʻahumanu Highway extension urban and commercial, returning the land to agricultural zoning. [source]
The same meeting takes up Bill 170, which would define data centers in the county's zoning code. [source]
The Planning Department's recent lists of applications accepted include a restaurant on Old Government Road and three bed-and-breakfast permits in North Kona. [source]
South Kona Sept. 19, older brief
The Leeward Planning Commission took up a special permit on Aug. 20 for a five-bedroom bed-and-breakfast with massage and wellness services in a proposed dwelling. [source]
Two parcels on Kaohe Road are being consolidated into one, with an easement for preservation. [source]
Kaʻū Sept. 20, older brief
On Sept. 25 the Board of Land and Natural Resources is asked to amend an executive order at Kahilipalinui to allow housing and a public library, and to let the state Department of Human Services build and manage the housing. [source]
Puna Sept. 19, older brief
Three bed-and-breakfast permits in Puna are on the Windward Planning Commission's Oct. 1 agenda, and more applications are in line on the Planning Department's lists. [source]
Hilo Benioff Medical Center has applied for a use permit to build a medical clinic of about 40,000 square feet on W.H. Shipman land, with a separate permit for its access driveway; the Windward Planning Commission took both up on Sept. 3. [source]
South Hilo Sept. 19, older brief
The Windward Planning Commission meets Oct. 1 on a permit for a new two-story, 30-room hotel on Puʻueo Street and on changes to the zoning conditions for KBXtreme Hilo. [source]
The County Council has before it a change of zone at 283 West Puainako Street in Waiākea that would let the owner split one lot into two; the commission recommended it. [source]
North Hilo Sept. 19, older brief
The University of Hawaiʻi, with NASA's support, plans to resume research at its analog habitat at 8,090 feet on Mauna Loa; the final environmental assessment found no significant impact. [source]
Smaller filings include a duplex on Old Māmalahoa Highway and an as-built farm dwelling on the Hawaiʻi Belt Road. [source]
Hāmākua Sept. 20, older brief
On Sept. 21 and 22 the Hawaiian Homes Commission is asked to reduce the land and monthly fee under Hawaiʻi Youth Rodeo ʻOhana's permit at Honokaia. [source]
No brief this week (too little new on the record): North Kohala.
Kauaʻi
County of KauaʻiNorth Shore Sept. 19, older brief
The Kauaʻi County Housing Agency's plan for about 310 homes, shops and a wastewater plant on vacant land in Kīlauea is out for public comment until Oct. 8. [source]
Kapaʻa-Wailua Sept. 19, older brief
The Board of Land and Natural Resources is set on Sept. 25 to amend the state's general lease to The Way of Salvation Church in Kapaʻa. [source]
The Planning Commission held a hearing in July on a new wireless telecommunication facility, and its Subdivision Committee took up a two-lot subdivision for the Department of Hawaiian Home Lands in August. [source]
Līhuʻe Sept. 19, older brief
On Oct. 13 the Kauaʻi Planning Commission holds a hearing on 60 affordable apartments, with a community building, on 2.5 acres along Kaumualiʻi Highway in Puhi. [source]
The county approved a shoreline-area permit to place a statue of Duke Kahanamoku. [source]
Kōloa-Poʻipū Sept. 19, older brief
The Planning Commission took up Kauai Habitat for Humanity's housing project in Lāwaʻi on Aug. 11, along with a plan to re-subdivide Kukuiʻula Parcel Q into 20 lots. [source]
Hanapēpē-ʻEleʻele Sept. 19, older brief
On Sept. 8 the Planning Commission held a hearing on bills that would move about 14.9 acres near Hanapēpē from the state agricultural district to urban, rezone them from agriculture to residential, and amend the West Kauaʻi Community Plan to match. [source]
Waimea-Kekaha Sept. 19, older brief
On Oct. 13 the Planning Commission holds a hearing on changing the Waimea town plan map for a parcel next to the Waimea Hawaiian Church, from village neighborhood to village center; the hearing notice numbers it ZA-2025-7, while the commission's August agenda numbered it ZA-2026-7. [source]
The Navy's final environmental impact statement on keeping its use of 8,172 acres of state land for the Pacific Missile Range Facility, with NASA's 23 acres at Kōkeʻe, is before the Board of Land and Natural Resources for acceptance. [source]
The county has begun an environmental impact statement for building Cell 3 of the Kekaha landfill higher. [source]
Briefs are written by the Ledger in a session from the records linked in each sentence, and dated. They say what is on the record, in plain words; they do not predict outcomes or take sides. The full list for each area follows below the brief. Past weeks: Oct. 29, 2026 · Sept. 19, 2026. For the daily email brief, sign up.