• KIUC rebuttal • Who should have the power? • UH patents? Thanks, but no thanks • Stop the Superferry KIUC rebuttal The attempt by its former public relations man to sanctify the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (Letters, May 24
• KIUC rebuttal
• Who should have the power?
• UH patents? Thanks, but no thanks
• Stop the Superferry
KIUC rebuttal
The attempt by its former public relations man to sanctify the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (Letters, May 24 and 25) totally ignores the salient factor of its operations.
After four years of KIUC ownership of Kaua‘i’s electric utility, the charges for electric service remain at all-time highs. He chooses to hide the fact that the price paid for the business results in the fact that electric service on Kaua‘i is higher than on the other Hawaiian islands and much higher than on the Mainland. For example, on Maui, where the electricity is supplied by a for-profit utility, the rate is 30 cents per kilowatt-hour, while ours (for an allegedly nonprofit “coop”) is 33 cents. In California, Southern California Edison charges only 19 cents, while a city-owned utility (Pasadena) charges only 10 cents.
He asserts that the price paid by the cooperative was found “correct” by the state Public Utilities Commission and its consumer advocate. Not so. Faced with the need to decide whether to approve the transaction the commission chose to accept the representations made by the cooperative that its ownership would benefit Kaua‘i’s consumers. The KIUC purchase of Kauai Electric was the first time that a price greater than the utility’s book value was allowed where the excess was permitted to continue to be included in the rates paid by consumers. This despite the claim by Mr. Barnes, in disputing my point of the stranding of capital by KIUC’s acquisition of alternative energy equipment, that a large part of the generating equipment is old and had no significant value.
He claims that at the end of the year, after expenses are paid, KIUC uses the net revenues to pay down the loan and “the ‘rest’ is returned to members (as) refund checks.” This false statement is contradicted by a KIUC press release the day before his article which advises that of the $11.2 million in “margins,” $2.8 million is being paid to users. Twenty-five percent of the margins — $2.8 million out of $11.2 million — is far from the “rest” that Mr. Barnes claims is returned to members. A measly $40 check in “refund” is hardly anything to cheer about after paying $2,400 in electric bills for one year!
He struts that the KIUC management came up with four new renewable and generation projects. He has this backward. Private firms originated the concepts which KIUC probably reluctantly accepted. He fails to state that it will be a number of years before these projects can be implemented and reduce the fossil fuel usage which now comprises virtually all of KIUC’s power source. He adds that “the whole reason KIUC is doing the alternative energy projects” is because KIUC directors listened to members’ voices. Apparently they gave no thought to the fact that these steps are actually mandated by state law.
Comments could be made about other misleading or inaccurate statements appearing in his letter, but the fundamental reality is that under KIUC ownership, Kaua‘i consumers have continued to endure excessive costs for their electric power usage and the utility has taken absolutely no action that will reduce those costs in the years immediately ahead.
UH patents? Thanks, but no thanks
In March of this year, a Hawaiian representative of the Waikiki Hawaiian Civic Club and Na Koa Ikaika o Ka Lahui Hawai‘i met with representatives of the government of Palau in Curitiba, Brazil, to discuss the patenting of a hybrid kalo by the University of Hawai‘i. The patent covers a hybrid of Hawaiian and Palauan kalo. Palau is a nation which has signed the International Convention on Biological Diversity; Palau claims ownership of its biodiversity and its genetic resources under international law.
The Palau representative told us that a University of Hawai‘i researcher had asked and received permission from the traditional Palau Women’s Council (which has oversight of loi kalo) and the Palauan Government to use Palau kalo for research with Samoan species. They indicated that they have not been notified about the hybrid research and the patenting of the hybrid by the University of Hawai‘i and its researcher.
By engaging in this type of misrepresentation and misconduct, the University of Hawai‘i has become involved in what is known internationally as “bio-piracy” — the theft of genetic and bio-resources from indigenous peoples and poor countries who are less technologically advanced than the nations and research institutions of the north.
To complicate matters further, the university, by utilizing true Hawaiian kalo, has also taken our Hawaiian bio-resources without the free prior informed consent of the Hawaiian peoples. Kalo is in our genealogy through Haloa, it is the basis of the native Hawaiian diet and is utilized by la‘au lapa‘au practitioners for medicinal purposes. This is why Hawaiians are demonstrating at the University of Hawai‘i and calling for the university to rescind the patents.
The university is now saying they want to transfer these illegal patents to a Hawaiian group in order to share the benefit with Hawaiians and help us make money through kalo commercialization. This action is unconscionable given the fact that the patents and hybrid kalo are, in part, stolen property of the government and peoples of Palau, and, in part, the stolen property of the Hawaiian community. Whoever accepts these three patents will also be accepting the liability that goes along with them — violations of international law and demonstrations by irate Hawaiians.
The university should do the right thing. Inform the Palau government of the truth and give up its illegal patents. The university needs to work with the Hawaiian community to create responsible policies relating to research and patenting of Hawai‘i endemic species based on the Paoakalani Declaration, passed by Ka Aha Pono in 2003.
The kalo belongs to all of us; it is our cultural heritage, food and medicine. Hawaiians should not accept the offer of the University of Hawai‘i to transfer these patents to them.
Those who receive and benefit from a theft are no better than the thieves themselves, and in this case they might just get stuck holding the liability bag.
- Mililani B. Trask,
Convener Na Koa Ikaika o Ka Lahui Hawai‘i Member, Waikiki Hawaiian Civic Club
Stop the Superferry
Our beloved island home began to lose its aura when “direct flights” from the Mainland started up. Mr. Coots is correct, the final nail in the coffin will be the Superferry. Please do what you can to stop this travesty.
