Jonathan Jay

Jonathan Jay attended the University of Washington in Seattle, studying architecture, art and satisfying the requirements for a bachelor’s in history. A resident of Kaua‘i since 2003 as an architectural designer and property caretaker, Jay has been active in sustainability organizations helping co-found Apollo Kaua‘i, Zero Waste Kaua‘i and Power to the People Kaua‘i.

He also co-hosts a community affairs call-in talk radio show called “Out of the Box,” Thursday evenings from 4 to 6 p.m. on 91.9 FM KKCR. For more information visit www.jjkauai.com.

What could KIUC do differently to include more members in its decision-making policies?

A big step toward KIUC becoming a member-driven cooperative that is accountable to the community it serves would be for KIUC leadership to let it be known a new breeze is blowing within KIUC, and that from this point forward the concerns and ideas of the community will take a front seat, rather than a back seat, in the strategic thinking and direction of the co-op.  

In fact, if we begin to listen to the akamai members better, KIUC might begin to offer services that better fit the needs of our diversified Kaua‘i community.

This is the direction I would like see the co-op begin to move for the betterment of all.

I humbly request one of your votes.

What could you as a KIUC board member do to reduce energy costs, besides promoting energy savings?

If elected as a director, I would actively push for KIUC to set a strategic goal of more than 90 percent solar hot water in the next 10 years on residential rooftops across Kaua‘i. On-bill financing of solar hot water heating may be a path forward for many families.

At present, only a limited number of installers are certified by KIUC to install solar hot water units under the existing rebate programs. This is limiting and increases expense to the home-owner. As director, I would move to open up this process to allow for more installers, as well as do-it-your-selfers to qualify.  

I believe this is how a truly progressive cooperative should operate to create maximum savings and value for the community it serves. I humbly request one of your votes.

What is the biggest challenge facing Kaua‘i in terms of energy?

The biggest challenge facing Kaua‘i in terms of energy is to turn away from thinking of energy solutions fixated only on the “seduction of supply.” To look only at the supply is to be stuck looking at only half of the picture.  

Careful energy users know we must begin to bring an equal level of our attention and creative solution finding to reducing the demand side. For example, if we made the commitment of massive solar hot water from Question 1, we could reduce our peak load of 70 megawatts in the late afternoon by 10 to 15 percent and free up 7 to 10 megawatts of existing capacity — the equivalent of the new bio-mass facility, but without spending $95 million dollars to build a new power plant! Now that is malama ‘aina! I humbly request one of your votes.

Why are you running for the board? What can you bring to the table?

I am running for the Board of KIUC because hard-working families across Kaua‘i already know they are spending too much of their money on electricity powered by off-island resources like diesel and naphtha and feel they do not have enough say in how the cooperative is run. KIUC has some of the highest rates in the entire US. Dollars spent on fossil fuels are dollars gone from our local economy forever, and rather than look to the membership for direction, KIUC too often determines strategic policy from the utility‘s perspective, then tries to sell that policy to the community.

What I bring to the table is creative problem solving, strong communication to re-invigorate trust at the community level and experience working at the grassroots to bring people together to work for solutions that meet all our needs. I humbly request one of your votes.