Devil’s in the detailsTo the Forum:

The devil is in the details. It is relatively easy for those who have not done

their homework to label the people who have as nit-pickers especially when

you’re a managing editor of the local newspaper and have carte blanche access

to propagate business interests masquerading as one’s own opinion (“Don’t

nitpick a good deal”, P4A, 5-14-00 The Garden Island”).

Dixon maintains

that if the sale of Kauai Electric was a corporate buyout, rate payers could

not ask questions. However, we could ask the same questions, we just wouldn’t

get any answers. Just like now.

A co-op is a corporation, a non-profit

corporation with an expectation of full disclosure. To the point: What’s the

deal?

Halfway through the column Dixon states it’s good to raise questions

about by-laws, how ratepayers get elected to the board, about

the

financial structure of the buyout, about the condition of the equipment, and

about present and future plans for alternative energy sources. But in the title

of her editorial she implies that people who ask such questions are

nit-pickers. A nit-picker is someone who levels unjustified criticism, but a

nit is a parasitic louse called `uku in Hawaii.

I’m not sure what Dixon is

trying to say. Is asking questions a simile for picking `uku off a corporate

body? Is this a good thing or unjustified?

isn’t a better alternative”. Oh

really?

You’re never going to find good alternatives unless you ask the

right questions.

Is there no alternative to spending $270 million to

purchase an obsolete power plant and having to overhaul all the generators by

2010? Is there no alternative to buying one of the most polluting plants in the

United States that spews out 2400 tons of nitrogen oxides a year? Is there no

alternative to building another polluting petroleum-based plant in Hanama’ulu?

Why is Citizens Utility, the parent company of Kauai Electric, divesting itself

of its petroleum-based power plants?

in these Dockets would support such a

decision. Over many years, Citizens has demonstrated a persistent pattern of

misconduct, violations of law, failure to comply with regulatory directives,

and disdain for traditional principles of utility accounting and management.

The record chronicles a pattern of mismanagement, imprudence and disregard for

Vermont law and regulation, extending over a period of decades.” (STATE OF

VERMONT, PUBLIC SERVICE BOARD Docket Nos. 5841/5859, 1997)

Looks like

Vermont regulators, AKA nit-pickers, found an infestation of `uku eating the

rate payers of Citizens Utilities alive.

The self appointed KIUC board says

“trust us” while refusing to tell 17,000 rate payers what we’re buying because

they signed a non-disclosure agreement with a corporation with “a persistent

pattern of violating the law”. If it’s such a good deal, why not disclose the

details?

This orchestrated, fast tracked, forced march into a concentration

camp of dependency and debt is a 35-year sentence without the possibility of

parole, which preempts any move towards sustainable energy production in the

foreseeable future. I think the rate payers of Kaua`i deserve better.

As

the legendary poker player Amarillo Slim said, “When you sit down at the table,

look for the sucker. If you don’t see one, leave because you’re the

sucker.”

Here’s an alternative for you. Let the nit-picking rate payers

remove the self-appointed `uku on the KIUC board and democratically elect a

board with the common sense to know when to hold ’em and know when to fold ’em.

Know when to walk away and know when to run. (apologies to Kenny

Rogers)

Speaking the truth and riding a fast horse,

Ed Coll

Lihue