FAQs
Do Native Hawaiians and environmentalists oppose geothermal?
Native Hawaiians benefit from PGV’s operation through 20 percent of royalties paid on the resource. Today, there is no overt opposition to geothermal energy. In the early days, one company—not PGV or its predecessor—sought permission to drill in a former state preserve, the Wao Kele O Puna forest. Some protested that geothermal interfered with Native Hawaiian practices. The project in the Wao Kele forest was abandoned. Today, Native Hawaiians and environmental groups are not generally in opposition to the geothermal project.