• Vote Sullivan for KIUC Board of Directors
• Increased costs today, rate stability in the future
• Angry with the wrong people
Vote Sullivan for KIUC Board of Directors
Besides being an intelligent and articulate guy, Ben Sullivan gets it.
Ben Sullivan understands what it will take for a total system transformation to move from a 20th century energy infrastructure into a high tech 21st century realities to create environmental and economic opportunities for our Kaua‘i community.
He understands that there is not one solution but multiple actions, technologies and strategies that need to be taken to reach Kaua‘i’s energy goals. But more importantly, Ben understands our moral obligation to make the island of Kaua‘i a better place to live, work and play for our families today and future generations.
Ben Sullivan will be an excellent leader to promote and support our cooperative model.
Mina Morita, Anahola
Increased costs today, rate stability in the future
KIUC’s Net Energy Metering program encouraged members to generate power for their own needs and to use KIUC’s system to moderate the storage and use of the energy.
As significant a concept as this was for encouraging self-generation, it was not without tradeoffs. The main concern was the amount of subsidy inherent in the NEM rate. For this reason, the PUC recently directed all Hawai‘i electric utilities to file proposed NEM pilot program plans to explore other potential NEM concepts that would consider the effects of NEM on the utility’s system and customers / members. The state NEM law is just one mechanism that promotes the implementation of renewable energy technologies and KIUC encourages renewable self-generation through its Schedule Q Modified Tariff.
Residential rates for March are $0.23084. The utilities Schedule Q Modified rate is our cost to generate electricity, which is currently $0.1046. The difference between the Schedule Q Modified rate and retail rates is what it takes for KIUC to operate and maintain the island’s electrical infrastructure — the cost of poles, wires, trucks and even storage; if a member with PV purchased a battery with storage capabilities, the cost of their PV system would be even higher. If the utility were to pay retail rates for all the electricity we buy from members with renewable generation, rates would have to be increased for others; those who could afford PV would be subsidized by those who could not.
KIUC continues to encourage onsite renewable generation, but at the same time must consider the effects to other members’ rates that do not have the financial ability to install these systems. As an island we must come to terms with the fact that renewable energy will increase our costs today, but as these sources are decoupled from fossil fuel escalations they will provide rate stability in the future.
Many rate-making decisions will be made by your KIUC board in the future, to encourage renewable generation, ensure the financial viability of the utility and to provide the most value for our members. Future programs to encourage renewable generation are being addressed within KIUC’s strategic plan, in concert with the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative.
Randall Hee, President
CEO, Dennis Esaki, Chairman of the Board, KIUC
Angry with the wrong people
Regarding the skit on Saturday Night Live on March 7 featuring “The Rock” in Kaua‘i doing tableside hula for tourists, I noticed that some people found it to be offensive and others found it to be hilarious but if you looked at it closer without getting angry or taking it to lightly you would realize that this is how visitors are treated most of the time.
I am certainly guilty of it and I have made my fair share of rude comments about tourists, but when you see it played out on SNL it is not so funny and it shouldn’t be taken lightly. It is a shame that we are perceived this way and it is a shame that our problem with crystal meth, development and early pregnancy are so well know that SNL is doing skits about it. What I am trying to say is we need to clean up our island. All of us need to show more aloha to visitors and each other. I realize that a few bad apples spoil the bunch and I am aware that there is aloha on Kaua‘i, but we need more and we need to show it more.
When is the last time we had a major drug bust? I think our tourism commission should take a long hard look at this skit and use it as a way for us to fix the way we are perceived.
More of an effort needs to be made to clean up crime. What are our police officers doing to combat crystal meth on Kaua‘i? Can Chief Darryl Perry answer this question?
Who else is going to have to get stabbed 18 times before we act? If we are under the illusion that crystal meth is not a problem then that really saddens me. If you ask me the whole thing smells fishy.
Our crime rate is growing and our development is as well. The skit goes deeper for me as a Kaua‘i resident and made me ashamed of my behavior and has made me realize that without the visitors, how would I put food on my table, feed my kids, drive my car, take my vacation and pay my rent?
If you work in any jobs that have to do with tourism and yet you hate tourists then you should look for other means of employment. We need to move forward as a community, and as people.
We are so caught up in the issues of the past that the present is being neglected. We are angry with the wrong people.
Noelle Barnes, Hanalei
