Kaua'i charter changes proposed
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau
LIHU'E, Kaua'i — Mayor Maryanne Kusaka is asking the Kaua'i County Council to place a proposed charter amendment on the November ballot that would amend the county charter to establish a framework for running the island's electric utility.
Kusaka told the council by letter that the charter amendment would provide a backup in case the purchase of Kaua'i Electric by a local cooperative is rejected by the state Public Utilities Commission.
Utility owner Citizens Communications and the Kaua'i Island Utility Co-op are awaiting PUC approval of the sale. Kusaka has spoken out against the co-op's purchase, saying the $215 million price is too high and the details of how it would be governed are not clear.
She said in her letter to the council that the charter amendment remains a backup plan that would be enacted only if the council chose to do so. "If the proposed amendment were to be adopted by the voters, the council would be authorized, but not mandated, to establish by ordinance an electric power authority corporation for the county," Kusaka said.
The language of the proposed charter change calls for the electric company to be run independently from the county, with a seven-member board of directors. Four members of the board would be elected by the voters, and three of the four would need to have specialized training in law, accounting or business management. Two members would be appointed, one by the mayor and one by the County Council. The seventh member of the board of directors would be the utility's chief executive officer, who would be selected by the other six board members.
The board would set rates but would not be required to have them approved by the PUC, as is the case with the privately owned utility.
Kusaka said the majority of the language of the proposed charter amendment was adopted from the American Public Power Association's model charter provisions for government-owned utilities.
Kusaka conceded that the concept of county ownership of the utility may be a hard sell, since many residents have expressed concern that the county could not effectively run the power company. "I believe that, because of widespread misinformation that exists regarding the county's intentions, a public education campaign regarding this initiative must be supported with adequate funding," she said.
