Hawaiʻi officials face a quandary regarding the state’s goal of producing all its energy from renewable resources by 2045 — not just whether they can meet it, but whether they can use geothermal power to do so.

Today there’s just one geothermal plant in the state producing electricity with heat that originates deep underground. State leaders think more plants like it could be used to produce power.

But they don’t know which parts of the islands, particularly the Big Island, are suitable. The only way to find out is to spend tens of millions of dollars on research and exploration. So far, the state has invested little.

And if state leaders do learn that geothermal is viable across the islands, they’ll need to navigate communities that consider it a desecration of the volcanic goddess Pele to drill into the Earth’s crust in order to tap heat sources.

Dane Wicker, the state’s deputy economic development chief, said the question facing the state is, “Are we serious about geothermal or not?”

The state’s sole geothermal plant, Puna Geothermal Venture, accounts for about 13% of Hawaiʻi island’s electricity production. State officials want geothermal to provide about a third of the Big Island’s energy by 2045.

Wicker told Civil Beat that the goal is to reach “commercial viability,” where private developers are willing to partner with the state to build new power plants.

But the private sector is unlikely to pay for costly testing and exploratory drilling. So it’s up to the state to do so.

Gov. Josh Green has put $5 million toward that research, but that’s enough to drill just a single exploratory hole. Officials say they need to drill six to eight to get a grasp of where geothermal resources could be.

State agencies estimated that they need about $33 million over the next two years to sufficiently fund that work. The Legislature turned down the governor’s request this year to add more.

However, in recent years lawmakers have put money into community outreach to gauge support for geothermal projects.

Nicole Lowen, chair of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee and a Big Island legislator, said she was disappointed that the Legislature didn’t put money into geothermal research this year, which she attributed to the late-session rush that dooms dozens of bills every year. Lowen said she plans to support such funding in the future.

“We need to figure out if this is going to happen, and if so, where?” Lowen said. “We have to start answering those questions and not just talk about geothermal like something that may or may not magically happen.”

Wicker said the state’s economy relies on renewable energy such as geothermal power. Such projects are needed to stabilize energy costs for facilities that have high energy costs such as shipbuilders and aerospace technology manufacturers.

“If energy costs rise, the price will be passed on to the consumer,” Wicker said.

But geothermal proposals have faced stiff opposition in the past, particularly from people who live near the Puna Geothermal Venture plant, run by the Israeli company Ormat Technologies.

Some of the opposition is fueled by concerns over the environment.

The plant has been fined for releasing dangerous gases, and residents have long complained that with the plant so close to their homes — for some, under a mile — their health has suffered and their cars and houses have corroded.

Palikapu Dedman has spent decades fighting geothermal development as part of the Pele Defense Fund, of which he is now president.

Dedman said geothermal proponents often ignore or gloss over Hawaiian cultural beliefs when conducting environmental studies required by the state for many large projects.

“They do studies on birds, bees and bugs, but not on native people and their traditional practices,” Dedman said.

If the state decides not to pursue geothermal — or if it’s not viable — Wicker said the state needs to figure out how to meet its renewable energy goal another way by 2045.

State Has Funded Limited Exploration

There aren’t many places in the state where the underground conditions are right to build a geothermal plant.

There could be more places to tap on the Big Island as well as areas on Oʻahu, Maui or Lānaʻi, but it’s impossible to know without looking under the surface. There could be enough heat deep underground even in places that don’t have lava above-ground, according to researchers and state officials.

In December 2023, Green set aside $5 million in leftover federal pandemic-era relief funds for the State Energy Office to conduct “slim hole drilling” around the state. That’s when a rig drills a small-diameter hole about 6,000 feet underground to look for water sources, evaluate rock composition and see if it’s hot enough underground for a geothermal plant.

Those tests are expected to begin early next year, starting on Maui, according to Mark Glick, the state’s energy director.

The cost of drilling just one hole could be roughly $5 million, and the office eventually plans to drill at least eight of them, Glick told lawmakers. His office requested $33 million over two years but left empty-handed.

Will Residents Accept More Geothermal?

Meanwhile, there are efforts underway to hear what residents think about geothermal.

Glick’s office has retained a consultant to reach out to communities regarding Hawaiʻi’s transition to renewable energy.

Pa‘akai Communications began that work in August 2024 under a $795,000 contract, which also requires the company to allocate funding to community organizations on Maui, Oʻahu and the Big Island.

It’s important to engage with residents before asking state utility regulators for approval for energy projects, Glick said. “You want to know there is community acceptance,” he said.

That effort is similar to what the Hawaiʻi Technology and Development Corp. began earlier this year. The HTDC, which is separate from the energy office, is typically focused on the tech industry and economic diversification.

The company Waikā Consulting is working on an outreach effort targeting geothermal developments on the Big Island, funded by a $3 million allocation by lawmakers.

Glick said he doesn’t believe that work interferes with his office’s work. He made clear that the energy office is spearheading geothermal efforts in Hawaiʻi.

“The statute is quite clear,” he said. “We’re the lead agency on clean energy.”

Wicker, the deputy economic development director who has a hand in overseeing both agencies, said the energy office is searching for potential drilling sites statewide while Waikā is working on the Big Island.

Waikā consultants started hosting town halls in late May. At one of those meetings, some Big Island residents questioned why the meetings were taking place before more research had been done. They appeared to be irked at the lack of a concrete plan or even an idea of where exploratory drilling and testing could take place.

Wicker said input gathered at those community meetings will be used to narrow down sites where testing can take place once community concerns have been addressed.

Concerns from residents “has to be mitigated,” he said. “That has to be addressed and that is part of the process.”

DHHL Could Use Geothermal to Fund Housing

Meanwhile, the state Department of Hawaiian Home Lands is exploring the potential for a geothermal project on its own lands on the Big Island.

The department wants to use revenue from a plant to build homes for the thousands of Hawaiians who have applied for homestead lots through the agency.

A committee of Hawaiian Homes commissioners have been exploring the issue for nearly two years. Committee chair Makai Freitas said the group is still gathering information on where small hole drilling can be conducted on the Big Island.

That would be separate from the energy office’s statewide projects.

The department asked lawmakers for $20 million this year to fund its geothermal efforts. It didn’t get anything.

Possible sites include the department’s lands in Humu‘ula, Kawaihae and South Point. The preferred site is located on a portion of lands in Humu‘ula near the Pōhakuloa Training Area, on the saddle between Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa, according to a department official’s written testimony to lawmakers.

Department officials have also participated in listening sessions to gauge interest from the community. When the time is right, Freitas said it will undertake a formal consultation process under the federal law that mandates that the agency provide housing for Native Hawaiians.

But the geothermal effort is still in its infancy, he said.

“We need to do our due diligence and do things the right way,” Freitas said. “You can’t put a timeline on that.”

CORRECTION: This story has been updated to clarify the scope of the state’s contract with Pa‘akai Communications.

Civil Beat’s coverage of environmental issues on Hawaiʻi island is supported in part by a grant from the Dorrance Family Foundation.