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LIHUE -- The Kauai County Council yesterday "concurred" in a decision by Mayor Maryanne Kusaka to spend up to $100,000 to hire a consultant for an appraisal of Kauai Electric.

Left open was the question of whether the county would use the appraisal to fight the purchase of Kauai Electric by a local business co-op before the Public Utilities Commission or as a preliminary step in an attempt by the county to purchase the utility.

It was the first time the possibility of a purchase by the county had been floated in public and the opponents to the current co-op all endorsed the idea enthusiastically.

The Kauai Island Utility Co-op, a group of local business leaders, has struck a deal with Citizens Communications, current owner of Kauai Electric, to purchase the power company for $270 million. The purchase must be approved by the PUC.

All three intervenors in the case -- Kauai County, the U.S. Defense Department and the Consumer Advocate -- filed position papers with the PUC concluding the co-op would be paying too much for the property and would be weighted down by too much debt. The PUC staff is conducting its own investigation.

County officials repeatedly stressed no decision has been made whether to offer to buy Kauai Electric if the PUC rejects the co-op deal. But the County Council rarely is asked to "concur" in a decision that is solely up to the administration. Concurrence usually is done as a show of support.

The $100,000 would come from a fund reserved for the county to hire expert witnesses in civil litigation. No Council approval is required to spend the money.

Kauai Electric was put on the block along with two other electric companies owned by Citizens last year. The parent company decided to sell its utilities and invest the money in telecommunications.

Kauai Electric customers pay about 24 cents per kilowatt-hour, about three times what the average mainland customer pays.