Hawaii plans public hearing on Kaheawa power plant

HONOLULU

Hawaii expects to hold a public hearing on Maui this week about plans for protecting endangered and threatened species near a proposed second Kaheawa wind power plant.

The hearing Wednesday will address the draft habitat conservation plan for the Kaheawa Wind Power II Wind Generation Facility.

First Wind LLC plans to develop a 21 megawatt wind farm on about 143 acres of state conservation district lands in West Maui.

The site is southeast of the company's first Kaheawa wind power plant.

The plan outlines steps the company plans to minimize, avoid, and mitigate impacts on four threatened or endangered species: the ua'u or Hawaiian petrel, a'o or Newell's shearwater, the nene and the 'ope'ape'a or Hawaiian hoary bat.