Residents seeking a more direct say in the island’s energy future answered questions on issues ranging from rates to renewables yesterday evening at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall. Six candidates vying for three open seats on the Kaua‘i Island
Residents seeking a more direct say in the island’s energy future answered questions on issues ranging from rates to renewables yesterday evening at the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall.
Six candidates vying for three open seats on the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative Board of Directors were quizzed at a forum hosted by The Garden Island and emceed by KQNG’s Ron Wiley.
Incumbents Dennis Esaki, Teofilo Phil Tacbian and Peter Yukimura were picked by the KIUC Nominating Committee in January while new-comers Thomas Ellis, Ken Stokes and Ben Sullivan qualified by
petition.
The candidates generally agreed on the direction the co-op needs to head, but differed somewhat on the route to take and to what extent the public should be included in the discussion.
Ballots will be sent out next week to the co-op’s 23,000 members, KIUC spokesperson Shelley Paik said yesterday. Votes must be received by noon, March 22.
Sullivan distinguished himself from Esaki early on in the five rounds of questions during the forum, which more than 50 residents attended.
“The most important relationship is absolutely between the board and the community,” he said, not between the board and its employees.
Sullivan’s vision for strategic planning “doesn’t happen in a back room,” he added.
Nine directors serving staggered three-year terms comprise the board, which is charged with the task of strategic planning, picking the CEO and approving the budget.
Esaki said efficiency and conservation should be the “low-hanging fruits,” the co-op encourages members to pick first.
“A penny saved is a penny earned,” he said, adding that if the co-op can reduce energy usage, it can save its customers money by not having to build new generators.
“It’s all about the members,” Esaki said.
KIUC, which formed in November 2002, manages a $146 million budget.
Fuel costs totaling $69.3 million represented 85 percent of the cost of power generation, according to 2006 statistics posted on KIUC’s Web site.
The current effective residential rate for customers is 40 cents per kilowatt-hour, which Ellis called “obscene.”
He said he supports renewable energy, but prioritized cost savings to members.
“Go green? You bet. But do it reasonably and with a lot of thought,” Ellis said. “One of the areas you can get on board right now is wind power.”
The board members, which meet monthly, have a stipend of $176 per service day.
Tacbian said KIUC’s strategic plan, which calls for 50 percent renewables by 2023, is three-fold: delivering safe and reliable service, achieving a high standard of sustainability with regard to power supply and providing fair and competitively valued rates.
With more than 40 years experience on boards and commissions, he said the current board is united and working in concert with KIUC staff.
Tacbian wants hydro to play a greater role in the utility’s future, eventually amounting to 50 percent of all alternative energy.
Yukimura also supports hydro, but said, “It’s not going to be easy.”
He noted foreseen hurdles with land rights and endangered species.
Ellis, a Wailua resident and retired Navy commander, touted his experience serving on the Island Electric board in Alaska.
He supports following the state law mandating energy emissions be at 1990 levels by 2020, but disagreed with the board’s “idealistic” plan to exceed these goals.
He said it could be “extremely costly” to “impose upon ourselves a target of 50 percent renewable energy by 2023.”
Ellis added that he does not want to see KIUC turn into an “energy Gestapo,” using its rates to force lifestyle changes.
“Our country is woefully behind,” Stokes said. “We have an obligation to play catch-up.”
Stokes, a Kapa‘a resident and economist, supports KIUC maintaining an innovative approach to energy, but said the first step is trimming waste.
“Going greener is the way to lower rates,” he said, noting dropping costs for renewable technologies.
Yukimura, who oversees the KIUC’s annual budget as finance and audit committee chair, said the best aspect of the strategic plan is its goal to generate 50 percent of its energy from renewable sources over the next 15 years.
He said KIUC should incentivize its members to conserve more energy and increase efficiency.
In 2006, there were seven candidates and 5,651 ballots were cast. In 2007, there were six candidates; 7,191 ballots were cast, Paik said.
Esaki, the board’s chair, said he is frustrated by the difficulty of attaching variable output renewables, such as wind and solar.
“These sources have less inertia than the old power plants and they shut down too fast,” he said in response to advance forum questions. “That puts a much lower practical limit that we’d like on how much we can use these kinds of renewables.”
Sullivan, a Lawa‘i resident, underscored the urgent need for the community to embrace the immense challenge and opportunity of reshaping residents’ perception of energy on Kaua‘i.
He said as director he would further a culture of “energy literacy.”
“Because of the board’s failure to communicate with the public, we do not have a clear picture of the challenges they see or the approaches that they might utilize to solve them,” he said, also in response to a question provided to all candidates before the forum.
“It is further very difficult to know what some of the struggles the board has faced in getting to this point, and fair and reasonable to assume that they have been considerable.”
In discussing changes to the rate structure, the candidates talked about instituting a “lifeline” rate plan, which could make electricity more affordable to senior citizens and low income residents.
The candidates agreed this would likely cause other income brackets to pay higher rates, but underscored the importance of taking care of community members most in need.
Ellis pointed to how most power companies on the Mainland have a “lifeline” rate plan.
“Why KIUC has been sitting on it for five years, I don’t know,” he said.
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.com.
The Garden Island provided a pre-forum set of questions to all candidates participating in The Garden Island’s forum. The questions and their answers are outlined here.
