Ka`u News Briefs Monday, Sept. 7, 2015

VOLCANO ART CENTER IS ONE of several nonprofit organizations participating in Foodland’s Give Aloha program through Sept. 30. Foodland directs its charitable giving to organizations that are important to its customers through the annual program. 

      Customers are invited to make donations up to $249 to participating Hawai`i nonprofit organizations at checkout. Individuals must use their own Maika`i card to make a donation. Foodland and the Western Union Foundation will match a portion of each donation made with a Maika`i card. Donations made without a Maika`i card will not be matched.
      The Western Union Foundation has donated $50,000 to add to Foodland’s gift of $250,000 to Hawai`i nonprofit organizations participating in the program this year, bringing the total gift that will be given to all participating organizations combined to $300,000.
      At checkout, use the code 77000 for Volcano Art Center.
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FORMER STATE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION Chair Mina Morita sees Hawai`i lawmakers’ recently announced exploration of publicly owned utilities as an option to investor-owned utilities as “just lots of big talk and just more studies,” she wrote on her blog at minamoritaenergydynamics.com.

      “These people have very little understanding how much it will cost, where to start and what it will take to run an efficient and financially viable electric utility during a technological disruptive period. As these politicians spew their ‘beliefs’ – and that's just what it is, rhetoric not based in critical analyses or an understanding of utility operations or regulation – they create an unstable regulatory environment and business climate which has the potential to send up red flags and wreak havoc on HECO's ability to finance its operations with or without the merger.” 

      Morita responded to lawmaker’s announcement last week about their plan. The group of lawmakers includes Ka`u’s state Sens. Russell Ruderman and Josh Green and Rep. Richard Creagan.
      Morita asked, “It’s so easy for you just to say no to the merger, so have you mapped out a serious alternative strategy to reach the 100 percent renewable portfolio standard objective? If so, how much is your alternative strategy going to cost? As the public ownership option and dissolution of the franchise are solely in your hands, what would be the timeframe for such a proposal? What would be the opportunity cost for switching to a new ownership model? Other than the Hawai`i Island Energy Cooperative, what other nonprofits have been formed to seriously look at cooperative models for Moloka`i, Lana`i, Maui and O`ahu? If none, what will it take to form a credible nonprofit to move forward, and again, what would be the opportunity cost? Do you understand that in these alternative models all risks is transferred to the electricity customer and taxpayer? How do you feel about that? Or, what matters most, how do your constituents, who will be carrying 100 percent of the risk, feel about that? And, the threshold question, are you willing to put state or county’s money where your mouth is? Who is going to upfront the money for a serious look at cooperatives? ...
      “Politicians and the governor need to let the Hawai`i Public Utilities Commission, as the regulator, and the Consumer Advocate, whose statutory duty is to represent the interest of Hawai`i’s ratepayers, … do their jobs in evaluating the application and all the questions and responses to come to an evidence-based decision that is in the public interest.”
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CYRIL PAHINUI AND THE NA`ALEHU THEATRE invite Ka`u residents to become a part of Hawaiian music history by joining his hui to collect the untold story of the Hawaiian Music Renaissance, No Ka Poli Mai No O Waimanalo, Straight From the Heart of Waimanalo. Pahinui is a familiar face in Ka`u, having taught at Ka`u High School and at music workshop in the district.