Although there are currently no plans for the County of Kaua’i to buy Kaua’i Electric, Mayor Maryanne Kusaka is still proposing an amendment to the Kaua’i County Charter to allow the County Council to establish a county power authority to
Although there are currently no plans for the County of Kaua’i to buy Kaua’i Electric, Mayor Maryanne Kusaka is still proposing an amendment to the Kaua’i County Charter to allow the County Council to establish a county power authority to run a county-owned electric utility.
“We must be poised to consider county ownership if the present application for the sale of KE is not approved by the Public Utilities Commission or the ratepayers,” said Kusaka. The state PUC, which must approve the sale of KE to Kaua’i Island Utility Co-op before the $215 million deal can be finalized, is now deliberating the sale proposal.
A PUC decision could come as early as September.
Last week Kusaka forwarded a proposed resolution to the County Council which, if approved, would put on the November general election ballot a question asking voters if the county should create a power authority.
Further, Kusaka said that, due to “widespread misinformation” about the thought of Kauai Electric being owned and operated by county government, “a public-education campaign regarding this initiative must be supported with adequate funding.”
A majority of speakers spoke out in favor of the sale to KIUC at a public hearing held by the PUC last month. Many of the speakers said they don’t trust county government to adequately own, operate and manage KE.
Kusaka stressed that a power authority would operate as a stand-alone corporation, separate and distinct from county government, and free from the control of county officers including the mayor and County Council.
“The administration hopes that the provisions incorporated into this document will clearly demonstrate to the people of Kaua’i that my firm and sincere goal is to have this power authority operate independently of the mayor and County Council,” Kusaka said in a letter to Council Chair Ron Kouchi offering the proposed resolution.
A board of seven members, four elected and three appointed, would be responsible for setting electric rates, under Kusaka’s proposal.
Part of the proposed resolution is similar to a bill passed by the state Legislature that is now on Gov. Ben Cayetano’s desk. House Bill 2045, House Draft 1, Senate Draft 2, Conference Draft 1, would allow a county power authority’s board to issue revenue bonds to buy or run a county-owned electric utility. The governor is yet to sign the bill.
The resolution if approved as submitted by Kusaka would allow the power authority board “the authority to issue bonds and other forms of indebtedness to finance the acquisition, construction, and improvements of the utility facilities.”
The state bill applies to counties with current resident populations under 100,000, or just Kaua’i, and will be automatically repealed at the end of June 2004.
It was the only piece of county-proposed legislation regarding the potential county ownership of KE to pass this year’s state Legislature. Bills died that would have made county electric-company jobs exempt from civil service provisions, and to exempt county-owned electric utilities from state procurement laws.
Wallace G. Rezentes, Sr., administrative assistant to Kusaka, said near the end of the 2002 legislative session that the bills that died were inconsequential to the county’s investigation of ownership of KE.
If the proposed Charter amendment is approved by the Council and placed on the November election ballot, it won’t cost taxpayers much money, as the proposal would likely be printed along with other proposed Charter amendments and state constitutional amendments, on one ballot sheet depending on the number of total state and county amendments proposed.
In other words, it is unlikely that there will be just a single Charter question, regarding the ability to establish a county power authority, on the November ballot.
Kouchi and Councilmember Gary Hooser are working on a proposed Charter amendment regarding land use, and several state constitutional amendments are expected to be proposed as well.
The full text of the Kusaka resolution is available from the county Public Information Office, 241-6303; Council Services, 241-6371; or on the county’s Web site, www.kauaigov.org.
Staff Writer Paul C. Curtis can be reached at mailto:pcurtis@pulitzer.net or 245-3681 (ext. 224).
