KIUC board continuity not a worthy goal by Dave Camp The KIUC board of directors candidate forum held Feb. 28 cemented in my mind that Kaua‘i needs to vote for new blood in this election. Derek Kawakami’s impassioned plea (“Let’s
KIUC board continuity not a worthy goal
by Dave Camp
The KIUC board of directors candidate forum held Feb. 28 cemented in my mind that Kaua‘i needs to vote for new blood in this election. Derek Kawakami’s impassioned plea (“Let’s re-elect the incumbents,” Guest Viewpoint, Feb. 25) to re-elect the incumbents is even less convincing after the event.
First and foremost, while the incumbents are good people giving their time to help the community, they represent an unenergetic sameness of outlook that has resulted in KIUC’s tunnel vision. Eight of nine directors (and all of these incumbents) come from the local business community. They have a narrow range of experience and appear very reluctant to embrace change even though the energy world is undergoing cataclysmic change around them. We need fresh people with fresh ideas who don’t have other relationships to protect.
Kawakami argues that KIUC and the board have seen too much turnover lately yet fails to hold it accountable for hiring and firing two CEOs in three years and for questionable spending decisions that led Kaua‘i to reject all of the incumbents last election and two others deciding not to run two years ago. Continuity for continuity’s sake is not a worthy goal. Board members need to demonstrate effectiveness.
Our rates continue to skyrocket and now exceed 40 cts/kWhr up from roughly 20 when KIUC was formed.
Why has the board done so little to break our dependence on oil? Almost nothing has actually occurred. We have a couple of potential deals for green power from wood chips or bagasse, but since KIUC has chosen to outsource the projects to independent groups, we have no certainty that either will actually get off the ground. Startups are still years away. Meanwhile, we burn oil for 95 percent plus of our electricity needs. Talk at election time is cheap. Our electricity isn’t.
We remain the only major Hawaiian island with no wind farm. Wind can produce power at one third the cost of our oil fired plants. The board has managed to set up charities, organize political action committees, distribute low interest loans to worthy groups and the like, but in the most critical area we entrusted them to handle — lowering our rates — they’ve accomplished virtually nothing in five years. We are more dependent on oil than in 2002. The emphasis is all wrong.
On governance, KIUC’s board is a major disappointment. Co-ops are supposed to be openly governed with a free flow of ideas to and from the members. This board has taken the secretive approach of the original Gardiner-led group and made it worse. Board members other than the chairman are now forbidden to talk to the newspaper or virtually anyone else on pain of expulsion from the board. Even Kawakami’s commentary is grounds for his dismissal should the others find fault with his words.
That’s wrong.
Constructive debate is critical to good decision making. And how can dialog with the members from directors be bad? Do we really need to gag eight of nine directors?
Kaua‘i’s citizens are educated enough to understand the issues and take part in the process. We don’t need a back-room group making decisions on a $200 million annual budget in concert with high priced consultants shielded by secrecy agreements. We shouldn’t have to trust that all angles have been considered and all directors have had their say. The record should show it proudly for all to see. Major decisions should not be hidden in secret committee meeting minutes ratified without discussion at the board level.
One original board member has told me that the monthly board meeting format was purposefully designed to minimize any public input, and it shows. After six years, the reluctance of the Gardiner board to take input from the members or keep us fully apprised of what our co-op is doing remains in full force. It should surprise no one that few members bother to attend board meetings.
We need a board with greater diversity, with a mindset that the ratepayers come first and that time is of the essence in getting off of oil-fired power generation. We all should look at the qualifications of the challengers and consider voting for one or all three in place of the incumbents even though they are decent folk.
It’s not personal; we simply need new ideas.
• Dave Camp is a resident of Aliomanu. He is a retired chemical engineer for Chevron and a former Goldman Sachs oil trader.
