LIHUE >> The Kauai Island Utility Co-operative announced yesterday that it has filed its $215 million deal with Citizens Communications Corp. to purchase Kauai Electric. Kauai electric co-op
files purchase plans
with the PUCBy Anthony Sommer
tsommer@starbulletin.comThe PUC rejected a $270 million agreement between the co-op and Citizens, which is based in Stamford, Conn.
The filing sets into motion a complex set of political wheels and gears.
Mayor Maryanne Kusaka has been positioning the county for the past two years to buy the utility if the deal with Citizens is again rejected. But the mayor has stopped short of saying she has decided to go ahead with the purchase.
The mayor's office was forced by the PUC to become an intervenor in the last case. It is likely to be required to intervene again.
Several weeks ago, the mayor's office unveiled its own appraisal of Kauai Electric valuing it at $185 million. The mayor said she would support the co-op, but only if it follows her recommendations.
The catch is Kusaka does not appear to have the support of the County Council.
About $1.3 million was set aside in the current year's budget for lawyers and consultants. But the Council placed the funds in the county's construction budget rather than its operations budget. That means Kusaka needs the Council's approval for any money that is spent.
Beth Tokioka, the mayor's spokeswoman, said the co-op filing -- two thick binders of material -- was delivered yesterday and the mayor's staff has only begun to study it.
Meanwhile, an unusual coalition of north shore environmentalists and retired corporate executives and attorneys also will be reading the filing carefully. For example, Ray Chuan of the anti-development Limu Coalition, who is usually one of Kusaka's most ardent critics, has allied himself with the mayor on the Kauai Electric Issue.