LIHU’E — Call him “the natural.” Randy Hee, the new—and first — chief operating officer (COO) of the Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC), is about as smooth a fit for the position as could be hoped for. Hee, who was
LIHU’E — Call him “the natural.”
Randy Hee, the new—and first — chief operating officer (COO) of the Kaua’i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC), is about as smooth a fit for the position as could be hoped for.
Hee, who was appointed about two weeks ago, has more than two decades of experience making sure things operate smoothly.
Hee’s experience includes managerial and operational positions at McBryde Sugar, the former Kauai Electric Company, and at Power Partners of Kauai, which was ultimately purchased and utilized by KIUC, which brings Hee full circle.
“I’m really looking forward to it. This is a business I really enjoy, and I really like the coop model,” said Hee, who is responsible for KIUC’s bread and butter, the operation of its generators and the distribution of electricity, and asset management.
It helps that Hee is a known commodity to KIUC. He was among the first members of the first elected board of directors, at KIUC’s inception in 2003, and has served as safety manager since March.
Hee was appointed by and serves under H.A. “Dutch” Achenbach, KIUC’s president and chief executive officer.
“The creation of the COO position does represent a major organizational step for KIUC,” Achenbach said. “We felt, and the board agreed, that the formation of the position would help provide a solid foundation on which the coop could build.”
Achenbach said Hee is responsible for all major operational decisions, freeing up Achenbach to focus on broader challenges.
“I feel very comfortable. It isn’t all that new to me,” Hee said. “I worked with a lot of the people here before (as a director and employee),” said Hee. “It gives me an insight to the challenges. I know how much time the (KIUC) board of directors put in, and my challenge is to present them with information and tools to make their decision-making process easier.”
He comes into his job as KIUC leaders fight their ongoing battle of balancing volatile crude-oil prices and rising costs, while striving to provide maximum efficiency.
KIUC officials have openly admitted the cooperative is too oil-dependent, and must seek out renewables to keep costs down.
“We have to make sure we can increase our efficiency, but there are no quick solutions,” Hee said in reference to future renewable-energy sources.
Hee said KIUC leaders could concentrate short-term on hydroelectric power initiatives, but conceded that more ambitious plans for renewable-energy sources or electricity-producing alternatives that don’t require the burning of fossil fuels, needed lengthy review.
“We have a lot of people coming in with ideas and schemes, and we really have to screen them to make sure they make sense and are feasible,” Hee said.
KIUC leaders are also in a reorganization process that falls under Hee’s purview.
“We have shuffled some people around. We feel it will help our workflow and functional process. It’s just something that make sense,” he said.
Hee said this was not a housecleaning, where people are losing jobs.
“It’s not total disruption. It’s just a tweaking, and not a huge problem. It’s aimed at efficiency and realignment,” Hee said.
Hee, born and reared on Kaua’i, is the president of the Kamehameha Alumni Association, Kaua’i region.
“The contacts help, but it really inspired me to give back to my community. I consider it an obligation,” he said.
KIUC leaders have reached a 13.2-percent “renewable portfolio standard” as of 2004, he said. Under the state law to encourage leaders of utilities to become less dependent on oil for electrical generation, operators of utilities are to reach a 15 percent renewable-portfolio standard mark by 2015, and a 20-percent mark by 2020.
Achenbach and members of KIUC’s board of directors said they are committed to identifying and utilizing renewable-energy sources.
One possible renewable that KIUC leaders have explored with officials from Sandia National Laboratories, is a battery-energy-storage system, or BESS.
The Hee file
Randall Hee was born and raised on Kaua’i. He graduated from Kamehameha School and attended Oregon State University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He recently earned his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Hawai’i at Manoa. Hee has been a Hawai’i registered professional engineer since 1982.
His work experience on Kaua’i includes 17 years with McBryde Sugar Company and six years with Kauai Electric. He was plant manager at the former Kauai Power Partners power station, operating a 26.4-megawatt power plant off Ma’alo Road on the way to Wailua Falls. The plant generates around half of the island’s electricity. He has more than 25 years of experience in the generation and distribution of electrical power on Kaua’i, including hydroelectric, biomass, reciprocating diesel, steam and combustion-turbine power systems.
