LIHUE — The leadership will remain intact. David Iha, Teofilo “Phil” Tacbian and Peter Yukimura will each serve another three-year term on the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative’s Board of Directors after ratepayers re-elected all three incumbents. “I just want
LIHUE — The leadership will remain intact.
David Iha, Teofilo “Phil” Tacbian and Peter Yukimura will each serve another three-year term on the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative’s Board of Directors after ratepayers re-elected all three incumbents.
“I just want to thank the members for their vote of confidence in the direction that we’re moving in,” Iha said on Saturday afternoon, shortly after election results were released. “We developed a strategic plan a few years ago to move toward renewable energy, so I think their vote is a vote of confidence that we’re moving in the right direction.”
Yukimura was the front-runner in this year’s election with 3,590 votes, followed by Iha with 3,502 votes and Tacbian with 2,971 votes.
Adam Asquith, the runner-up in this year’s election, received 1,672 votes.
When he first joined the board in 2007, Iha said about 90 percent of the cooperative’s energy was produced through fossil fuels.
By next year, new renewable energy initiatives being rolled out, such as purchasing energy produced by the Green Energy, LLC biomass facility near Koloa, should reduce the amount of energy produced by fossil fuels to about 40 percent.
“I think we’ve made great progress in terms of reducing our fossil fuel imprint,” Iha said. “I think the next challenge we have is harnessing hydropower — that will further reduce our dependency on oil. Hydropower has been with us for over 100 years and water’s such a precious resource, so there are many rules and regulations that need to be followed in order for KIUC to use the power of water to generate electricity.”
Having all three incumbents elected into office, Tacbian said, helps provide the momentum to keep those efforts going forward.
The ultimate goal, he explained, is to reduce the electricity bills of ratepayers over time.
“A board member cannot do anything by themselves — he or she needs the cooperation and coordination of the other board members,” Tacbian said.
“It’s a big advantage to have experienced directors continue. If new members come in, they start at ground zero and go through the learning curve, so sometimes it take a whole term before they learn what their duties and responsibilities are.”
In all, KIUC officials mailed out 25,309 ballots and received 7,227 between Feb. 7 and March 8 — a turnout of 28.5 percent.
Although the number of ballots returned were slightly higher than last year’s 23 percent voter turnout rate, the number was significantly less than a special election held in January to determine whether the cooperative should keep fees charged to customers who don’t want to use a smart meter.
In that election, 43 percent of all ballots sent to KIUC ratepayers were returned, representing the highest voter turnout in KIUC history.
“Generating, transmitting and distributing electricity is a complex business,” Iha said. “Some people want to change direction just like you can change the direction of a catamaran, but I think changing the direction of a public utility is complex and requires a big investment in funding in the millions of dollars. We can’t make changes that rapidly but we are making changes.”
Asquith, who finished 1,299 votes behind third-place finisher Tacbian, couldn’t be reached for comment Saturday. Yukimura, the top vote earner, also couldn’t be reached.
Jonathan Jay, who placed seventh in the election 1,800 votes behind the third place spot, said the lower voter turnout in the KIUC Board of Directors election signifies the need for more members to get involved.
“I think that it’s really important for our cooperative for members to participate in the director elections,” Jay said. “The energy challenges facing our community … is to have a cooperative that is resilient, sustainable and an audience to its members. Those pressing energy challenges will remain with us and we must, as a community, remain committed to answering those challenges.”
Jay, who helped spearhead the cooperative’s special election on smart meters, said he will not protest the result of the elections and explained that he will “continue to find other ways to impact KIUC.”
The three re-elected directors will each serve a three-year term ending in March 2017.
The board members will be inaugurated at 11 a.m. March 25 in the KIUC Main Conference Room, 4463 Pahee Street in Lihue.
• Darin Moriki, county government reporter, can be reached at 245-0428 or dmoriki@thegardenisland.com. Follow him on Twitter at @darinmoriki.
