Welcome the latest DC Fast Charger located at the Punalu’u Bake Shop in Ka’u. (We now have a total of 7 Fast Chargers.) This is great news for electric car owners – these stations will make driving around the island more feasible.
The blessing for the newest DC Fast Charger on the Big Island was held on March 16, 2019. The charging station is located at Punalu’u Bake Shop in Naʻālehu, the first such station in the Kau district. EV drivers on Hawaii Island know that this location will serve to fill a badly needed gap between the other stations positioned in West and East Hawaii. This newest addition to the fast charging network on the Big Island was a collaboration between Hawaii Electric Light Company and the host for the station, Punalu’u Bake Shop. Isemoto Contracting Co, Ltd. and 808 Electric and Telecom, LLC were the installers of the charging station.
The event was attended by many of the people that were integral to the project, along with County and State representatives, members of the Big Island EV Association (Thomas Kraft, Emily Ebert, Eddie Gutierrez, Gary Miller, Paula Miller, and Russell Ruderman), and general public.
De Luz Chevrolet also attended and brought a bright green Chevy Bolt! (We hope to see this being driven around town soon!)
Here is a re-cap of the speakers and some of the information they shared at the event.
Jennifer Zelko Schlueter – Director, Government and Community Relations at Hawaii Electric Light gave the introductions and mentioned that this newest station is in addition to several other fast chargers on Hawaii Island, and she also noted that she had learned De Luz Chevrolet also has a fast charger.
Sharon Suzuki – President, Maui County and Hawaii Island Utilities
Thank you for making the time to join us in Naalehu, I know it’s not a short drive for many of you, so we truly appreciate that. Thank you to Connie and her team at Punalu’u Bake Shop for being a partner to host new DC fast charger to encourage electrification of transportation on the island.
At the Hawaiian Electric family of companies, we’re interested in providing new products and services to our customers. One is an electric vehicle program. It helps us not just to enable clean transportation on the island, it also helps us to integrate more renewable energy like solar that is more available during the middle of the day. Our rates are set so that it is cheaper to charge during the day. It’s all part of getting Hawaii to a clean energy future.
After the blessing, we will have a demonstration on how to use the fast charger.
Connie Koi – General Manager, Punalu’u Bake Shop
Thank you for coming, it is a long drive for most of you. That is the main reason why, when we were approached about this project, obviously it was a no brainer. We are in the middle of nowhere. We have residents in the area who are already trying to convert to EV however they need to make an investment in their own charging system. But now they have accessibility here. Thank you, Hawaii Electric Light, for considering our location.
Aaron Chung – Hawaii County Council Member, District 2
This is very important to the County of Hawaii on many levels and I’m going to mention three.
1. The State of Hawaii has established 2045 as the year we are trying to reach generating 100% clean energy. We all know that is an ambitious idea and a worthy goal. On behalf of my colleagues and the Mayor, we support that goal because it is a very good goal to aspire towards.
2. The owner of this bakery, Duane Kurisu is from Hawaii island, now living in Oahu. He has established himself as being a person who is community minded. This partnership between HELCO and Punalu’u Bake Shop is another example of that.
3. There is a growing and passionate community of electric vehicle owners. From the county side, we needed to make the effort to show them that this project, people in Kau and people that have to travel in this area are not “step-children” of the greater community of our island. Thank you all for this wonderful project and allowing me to be a part of it.
Russell Ruderman, Hawaii State Senate, District 2:
I am so happy about this, we all know we need stations periodically to get around the island without a lot of worry. I have a LEAF on Oahu. I have not had it on the Big Island yet, but I’m looking forward to bringing it home. I had a lease on a LEAF for 3 years. When the lease was up, the newer models had twice the range, so I was inspired to “turn over a new LEAF”.
I have been particularly pounding this drum in Honolulu the last few weeks. We have a couple of bills going forward that are really anti Electric Vehicle. One bill that is proposing to put a surcharge on electric vehicles. Instead of a discount or incentive it will provide a dis-incentive. The logic is that EVs are so heavy that they do a disproportionate amount of road damage. I have done a little research and they are not heavier. They are heavier than a small sedan, but they’re quite a bit lighter than a pickup truck or SUV and many times lighter than a large truck. The other research I’ve done shows that almost all road damage happens from the heaviest vehicles. There is no legitimate justification for doing this. More importantly we have a stated goal of trying to get off fossil fuels to reduce our carbon emissions, and this policy is contrary to our stated goals. I’ve been trying to kill this bill, it’s a small amount of money but it is symbolic.
I really believe we in Hawaii have a special role to play in the establishment of electric vehicles. Hawaii has a big influence in the world, and we are really the only state with short distances to drive and solar power year-round, so we can prove electric vehicles. We have a special role to play in showing the rest of the world how useful they are and what an important thing it is.
I am an environmentalist and I used to have 5 other issues in my line of topics for climate change, but that’s changed for me. All my other issues pale in comparison to our need to address climate change. We thought we had 50 – 100 years, we don’t. We have maybe 12 to make a profound difference. So, there is nothing more important in my mind. We’re making great progress on the electricity generation side, but the transportation side is going to be much more difficult and electric vehicles are very important for that. I’m so glad to see these stations at the crucial points so that we can get around the island. Thank you for having me.
Father Martin performed the blessing.
Thank you for inviting me. I wanted to say 3 things that made me say yes to doing this blessing.
1. I am from Africa. In Africa we don’t have much electric power, people still cook using firewood. So, this is exciting for me, I wanted to learn something.
2. I have been here for 7 years and I have seen development taking place, and this is a development for our area in Kau.
3. I think that whatever work we do, we are being co-creators with God. Whatever development we do for humanity, for ourselves, for the environment, we are simply participating in the work that God had started for us. To see and to learn about this was very important for me. Thank you for inviting me.
Marilyn Creagan, wife of State Representative Richard Creagan, House District 5 said “I appreciate what you are doing”.
Other attendees from Hawaii Electric Light:
- Darren Elisaga – Community Consultant (West Hawai’i)
- Dave Kurohara – Community Outreach
- Kristen Okinaka – Public Information Officer
- Tom Cummins – Director of Support Services
Electric Vehicles continue to grow in popularity on the Big Island. In just a few short years, several more charging stations have come online. We can’t wait to see what the future holds for our charging network. There is a long way to go, but one station at a time, our island will become easier to navigate with Electric Vehicles.
Note: This charger can be used for Fast Charger-enabled cars. Those with CHAdeMO and CSS ports. Tesla Model S and X vehicles can utilize this charging station but will require a CHAdeMO adapter. Usage rates are between 51 and 53 cents per kWh, depending on time of day. Credit cards and Greenlots subscriptions are accepted. Importantly, this station is accessible during bakery business hours (830am – 500pm, daily).
For more information on charging, visit our Electric Car Charging page.
Author: Emily Ebert; photos by Gary Miller.