LIHUE — Janet Kass is the newest member of the Kaui Island Utility Cooperative’s board of directors, and she really didn’t expect to be.
“I was honored, and frankly surprised, to learn that KIUC members elected me to the KIUC board of directors, since I am a newcomer to the island,” Kass told The Garden Island. “Thank you for putting your trust in me. I will use my very recent experience in the electric utility business to provide a fresh perspective at the KIUC board table, supplementing the in-depth knowledge of Kauai-specific issues that the other eight board members have.”
Kass, recently retired from the position of chief financial officer at an electric cooperative in Michigan, joins incumbent directors David Iha and Teofilo Phil Tacbian who were re-elected Saturday to KIUC’s 2018 board of directors. Each will each serve for three-year terms ending on March 2021.
Ida received 2,660 votes, Tacbian 2,507 and Kass 2,465.
Challengers Daniel Erickson received 2,144 votes, and Scott Giarmann got 1,281.
Six-year KIUC board member and incumbent Pat Gegen received 1,937.
“I’ve enjoyed hearing from many Kauai residents already about their hopes and concerns regarding KIUC,” Kass said. “I look forward to serving you all, striving to accomplish KIUC’s goals of providing reliable, affordable electric service that is increasingly coming from renewable energy sources.”
Iha said he wants to use experiences he’s gained during 11 years as board director to provide a better energy future for the island’s keiki.
“We have made significant progress towards our goal of using renewable resources to generate our electrical power,” Iha said. “I am committed to adding more renewable energy to our mix of generation options.”
KIUC mailed 25,826 ballots and received 4,910 responses for a turnout of 19 percent.
“One of the seven cooperative principles is democratic member control,” Iha added. “I would like to see a greater voter turnout for our elections.”
Tacbian has been a member of the board of directors for the past 13 years.
“This gives me the opportunity to continue what we doing and to see our ongoing projects through successful completion,” said Tacbian. “That includes the pump hydro operation on the Westside and also the battery solar array down in Lawai. We also have another project down at Barking Sands with the Navy.
“So all of these will help bring the total amount of energy that we use up to the point where we might be 100 percent renewable in a few years.
The newly elected board members will be inaugurated on March 20 at 11 a.m. in the KIUC Main Conference Room. Afterwards, the board will hold its regularly scheduled meeting at 1 p.m.
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John Steinhorst, staff writer and photographer, reports on local business, music, education and events. He can be reached at (808) 245-0445 or jsteinhorst@thegardenisland.com.
