Pacific Current, the nonregulated subsidiary of Hawaiian Electric Industries, is winding down after selling its final operating asset, a biomass plant on Kauai that supplies about 10% of the island’s electricity. This sale concludes a multi-year divestment of its solar, battery, and thermal projects, leaving the company with no active facilities and paving the way for a formal shutdown. Ownership of the Mahipapa biomass plant and its long-term power contract now transfers to a new owner as Kauai continues its push toward greater use of renewable energy.
Pacific Current sells its final asset
According to Pacific Business News, Pacific Current has sold its remaining biomass plant on Kauai and is now preparing to wind down the subsidiary’s operations. The outlet reported Wednesday that the transaction leaves Pacific Current with no operating projects on its books.
Mahipapa plant and how much it matters
The Mahipapa facility is a dispatchable closed-loop biomass-to-energy plant that sells its output to the Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative under a long-term power purchase agreement. Hawaiian Electric’s SEC filings list the project at about 7.5 megawatts and note that the PPA extends into the mid-2030s.
KIUC describes Mahipapa at roughly 6.7 MW in its generation portfolio and says the utility’s system averages about 50 MW during daytime demand. That combination helps explain why the plant represents roughly 10% of Kauai’s daytime generation capacity and why any change in how it is run will get close attention locally.
Part of a longer divestment
The sale wraps up a stepwise exit for Pacific Current. The holding company divested its Hamakua Energy plant in March 2025, then followed up by selling its solar and battery projects as part of a broader effort to simplify Hawaiian Electric Industries’ operations.
In March 2025 HEI announced the Hamakua deal in a company release on BusinessWire, and by August 2025 Hawaiian Electric had confirmed the sale of Pacific Current’s solar and storage assets to Fortistar and Epic Star on its investor news page. With Mahipapa now off the books, there is effectively nothing left to manage inside Pacific Current.
What this means for customers and the grid
Because Mahipapa operates under a long-term PPA, the immediate reliability risk for customers should be limited, as long as the new owner sticks to the contract and keeps the plant running. For now, lights should stay on as usual.
At the same time, KIUC is adding more utility-scale solar-plus-storage and has publicly targeted 100% renewable generation in the early 2030s. That shift is already reshaping Kauai’s resource mix and arguably boosts the strategic value of firm, dispatchable resources like biomass that can cover cloudy days and evening peaks. How the buyer handles fuel supply, maintenance routines and staffing will determine how much the change of hands is felt on the ground.
Why now
HEI has presented the Pacific Current divestments as part of a larger push to refocus on its regulated utility business and shore up liquidity in the wake of the Maui wildfire settlement and related financial obligations. Company investor materials and 2025 quarterly filings described the strategic review of Pacific Current and its asset sales as moves to streamline the holding-company structure and preserve capital for core utility investments instead of side ventures.
What to watch next
Next up, look for a public filing or company notice that names the buyer and spells out any planned changes to operations or local staffing. Documents from HEI, state regulator dockets and updates posted by KIUC will be the key places to see whether Mahipapa’s role on Kauai shifts in any meaningful way over the coming months.
