Governor Abercrombie: “All I said was, ‘Maui wants goat cheese.'”

by Anna Such

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Surfing Goat Dairy Farm celebrated the completion of their new 50- kilowatt solar power system last Friday (July 29) afternoon.

Governor Neil Abercrombie and Mayor Alan Arakawa visited the dairy farm for a champagne toast to commemorate this small step towards energy independence for our islands.

The new photovoltaic power system is equivalent to planting 95 trees and will save Surfing Goat Dairy about $2,200 per month, according to Haleakala Solar founder, James Whitcomb.

“Our company is very grateful,” said Whitcomb, who was chosen out of a few bidders for the job.

Thomas Kafsack, one of the owners of the dairy farm, gave his speech first. He and his wife, Eva, especially wanted to thank Abercrombie for helping them when they were having trouble getting their green cards.

“All I said was, ‘Maui wants goat cheese’,” said Abercrombie.

Despite having just arrived back on Maui from Washington DC at 3am, Arakawa gave a short speech as well.  He mentioned that he grew up about a half a mile from where Surfing Goat Dairy is located.

“The way we’ve been operating in the past is very unhealthy,” said Arakawa, of Hawaii’s energy sources. “Projects like this are imperative.”