LIHU‘E — Incumbents are touting advancements toward a 100% renewable-energy portfolio, while a rival calls for increased electric-vehicle infrastructure in the run-up to the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative Board of Directors election.
All four candidates, which include current KIUC Secretary Cal Murashige, Vice Chair Jan TenBruggencate, Treasurer Peter Yukimura and challenger Steve Parsons, made their cases to the community during the Kaua‘i Climate Action Forum held Wednesday.
“Most people don’t realize how lucky we are to have an electric cooperative on Kaua‘i,” said JoAnn Yukimura of Zero Waste Kaua‘i, which cosponsored the online event with Surfrider Foundation Kaua‘i and Kaua‘i Climate Action Coalition.
“If KIUC were an investor-owned utility, like it was when it was known as Kaua‘i Electric, we wouldn’t be here this evening,” JoAnn Yukimura continued. “Because with investor-owned utilities, ratepayers don’t get to choose the board of directors.”
Three out of nine board seats, each carrying a three-year term, are up for election each year.
Peter Yukimura is this year’s most-tenured candidate, having sat on the board since 2005, three years after KIUC’s formation.
A decorated Vietnam War veteran, businessman and former member of the Hawai‘i Land Use Commission and Small Business Regulatory Review Board, Peter Yukimura is followed in seniority by science journalist, author and communications consultant TenBruggencate, who joined the board in 2010.
Murashige, a military veteran and former Hawai‘i deputy attorney general, Kaua‘i County deputy prosecuting attorney and fifth-circuit judge, was elected to a directorship in 2012.
The three men, introducing themselves individually, pointed to the co-op’s ongoing renewable-energy campaign when asking attendees for their continued support (KIUC went from a 92% dependency on fossil fuels in 2010 to 67% renewable energy generation in 2020, and its pending West Kaua‘i Energy Project is projected to make the utility 90% renewable).
“I think we’re doing a great job,” said TenBruggencate. “I think you could look at our past performance to determine that, and we want to continue doing that in the future.”
The incumbents’ foil, Parsons, is a Realtor, Gulf War veteran and former Child Protective Services social worker and investigator. A member of several local environmental groups, Parsons said his concern regarding climate change prompted him to run.
“Part of the solution is electric vehicles, or EVs, because they save money, lives, and fight climate change,” Parsons said. “Unfortunately for us and our children, the latest climate change news is not good … We are losing this fight and science says we need to move faster.”
Planks in Parsons’ platform include pushing for a KIUC EV fleet, rebates for new and used EVs, high-speed level-three chargers for school buses and first responders, and time-of-day rates.
Q&A session
Candidates spent the bulk of Wednesday’s virtual forum fielding questions pitched by organizers and attendees.
The first inquiry sought to establish KIUC’s timeline for 100% renewable-energy generation.
Murashige, TenBruggencate and Peter Yukimura said the utility could accomplish the goal in coming years, but stopped short of naming a firm date, citing future changes in technology.
“We have the technological capacity to do it now,” TenBruggentate claimed. “I’m hoping, as I watch the industry, that the technologies will improve and we’ll have better alternatives than, for example, using just more solar farms.”
Peter Yukimura agreed.
“I think there’s still more to come,” he said. “So I am not really rushing to be 100% right now.”
Parsons’ proposed EV initiatives were also debated, with Parsons urging the speedy purchase of electric fleet vehicles for KIUC, and the promotion of EVs to the county and general public.
Murashige offered a partial response, claiming the majority of KIUC’s fleet consists of specialized trucks, for which no electric alternatives exist.
TenBruggencate said he has “no doubt” an electrified fleet is part of the utility’s plan to reach 100% renewable energy.
KIUC’s next strategic plan update is due this July.
When asked how KIUC plans to match other islands’ installation of level-two and level-three EV chargers, incumbents pointed to the eventual arrival of federal monies to cover high installation costs.
“I’d much rather take advantage of that opportunity … (because) I’m not thrilled with the idea of charging our members higher rates to cover that cost,” TenBruggencate said, claiming one level-three charger would cost $150,000.
The following morning, U.S. Senator Brian Schatz (D-Hawai‘i) announced the state will receive $2.6 million in new funding to expand its network of EV charging stations under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
It’s part of $18 million earmarked for EV chargers in the state over the next five years, according to Schatz’s office.
Parsons and attendees expressed dissatisfaction with the current number of chargers on-island, during the forum.
“That is certainly a problem for folks that don’t have garages and low-income communities and whatnot,” Parsons said. “That bugs me because that spills over into health and social justice and some other pieces.”
Candidates were also faced with potential controversies, when asked if KIUC would take an official stance on the proposed Homeland Defense Radar-Hawai‘i, a facility military planners may choose to site within the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands.
KIUC has a legal obligation to meet the island’s electricity requirements, said Peter Yukimura, the sole incumbent to respond to the question.
“I don’t think our politics should play any part in this,” he continued. “I think we have to provide because we’re a utility.”
Parsons answered as well, stating he hopes KIUC would push the military to make the facility as carbon-neutral as possible, should the radar become a reality.
Incumbents were also pressed to make a public statement disavowing the development of waste-to-energy as a means of solid waste disposal on Kaua‘i.
Any possibility of an on-island WTE facility was decried by residents who testified before the Kaua‘i County Council last December, prior to local lawmakers’ passage of the 2021 Kaua‘i Integrated Solid Waste Management Plan, which included WTE as one of several potential waste-management solutions.
Opponents of WTE argued the process is inefficient and polluting, at the time.
“We haven’t made any statement (disavowing WTE) because we don’t have anything in it,” Peter Yukimura said Wednesday. “All the waste from the landfill belongs to the county, and so far, they haven’t approached us.”
A full recording of the forum will be made available online, according to its organizers.
Election Day
The 2022 KIUC Board of Directors election will be held Saturday, March 19.
KIUC will have ballots in the mail in late February, co-op spokesperson Beth Tokioka said last month.
Candidate statements will be included with the mail-in ballots, which must be returned no later than noon on election day.
Members may also choose to vote by phone or online.
The average KIUC election turnout is about 20%, according to TenBruggencate.
Other co-op directors include Chair Allan Smith, Dee Crowell, David Iha, Janet Kass, Jim Mayfield and Teofilo Phil Tacbian.
•••
Scott Yunker, reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or syunker@thegardenisland.com.
