Jack Benzie has a bachelor of science in engineering and an MBA. He currently works as a leadership and management consultant for LUNAR Consulting, LLC and is the technical director of the Pacific Missile Range Facility. Benzie has 36 years
Jack Benzie has a bachelor of science in engineering and an MBA. He currently works as a leadership and management consultant for LUNAR Consulting, LLC and is the technical director of the Pacific Missile Range Facility. Benzie has 36 years of public service experience in engineering management and leadership roles and serves on the Renewable Energy Committee of the Kaua‘i Economic Development Board.
What could KIUC do differently to include more members in its decision-making policies?
KIUC could improve the content of the Currents magazine to contain information about the utility operations and costs that members would find more useful.
We could open more avenues for public input, such as more committee participation by members, allow input via the website and put more “issues” out for public comment before making decisions.
An informed membership will be more willing to offer inputs to the decision-making process and those inputs will be more valuable to the co-op because they will be based on accurate information.
What could you as a KIUC board member do to reduce energy costs, besides promoting energy savings?
Since our dependence on oil is a major driver in our current high and fluctuating energy costs, I support measures that would require the utility to continue to move toward increased local fuel sources — including solar, hydro, ocean, wind, bio-mass and waste-to-energy — in a manner that protects our island, our people and the animals we share it with.
Next, I support an in-depth review of our financial situation to ensure that we are getting the maximum benefit from the money we each contribute to the co-op every month.
Finally, I support policies that require the utility to baseline the processes that it currently utilizes to produce our power and then solicit employee, member and public input and feedback on ways to make those processes more efficient. Just because we have always done something in a particular way doesn’t make that the best or most efficient way to do it. Sometimes change is good, especially when it leads to lower costs for all of us.
What is the biggest challenge facing Kaua‘i in terms of energy?
I believe that our biggest energy challenge on Kaua‘i is our dependence on off-island fuel sources such as oil. We have a wide variety of fuel sources available to us on this island including the sunshine, the waves, the rivers, the wind and the renewable plant life that can all be tapped for a local and healthier energy supply. We can do this in an environmentally friendly way that protects the land and the life it supports while helping us reduce our contribution to ozone-depleting activities. This will require all of us to act in the best interest of the community while ensuring that all individual concerns are addressed. We need to meet the needs of the majority while still protecting the rights of the minorities.
Why are you running for the board? What can you bring to the table?
After retiring from 36 years of public service, I find that I still have a desire to contribute to the betterment of our community. With my government and business background I can help KIUC fulfill its role as a co-op within our community. As a co-op, KIUC can take the efficiency lessons from business without being driven by a profit motive and at the same time take the member service attitude from the government without treating member payments as an entitlement to be spent but rather as a stewardship to be guarded and reduced whenever possible. This philosophy will allow KIUC to gain the most benefit from being a co-op and help make power production more efficient and management more member focused.
