Friends of lanai filing on transcripts
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Friends of Lana'i raised concerns regarding the Public Utilities Commission's decision not to publicly post evidentiary hearing transcripts for a crucial docket involving Hawaiian Electric Company and related entities. The group argues that this restriction limits public access and potentially impedes meaningful participation for those not able to attend the hearings in person. They request clarification from the commission to ensure transcripts are made publicly available, emphasizing the importance of transparency for affected utility customers and the general public.
![In light of the Commission's previous inclinations to make the proceedings in this docket as
public as possible (the Commission stated it is "difficult to understate the importance [of this
proceeding] not only to the ratepayers of the HECO companies but to the state of Hawaii's
citizens and its economy[,]"^) transcripts of the evidentiary hearings should be publicly posted.
To allow an undisclosed "agreement" with for-profit court reporters to supersede the interests
of Hawaii's residents and utility customers in following the proceedings would be an
unfortunate decision, unbecoming of a "public agency" in dealing with a public document.^
Members of the general public-even on O'ahu - a r e not likely to be able to attend the full
hearings, and therefore will remain uninformed of the proceedings; only a handful of attorneys
and those for-profit entities that can afford the costs of travel and/or transcript purchase will
be fully informed and able to participate.
Based on the foregoing, FOL respectfully asks the Commission to issue a Prehearing
Conference Order in which it clarifies paragraph No. 12, to the extent that a transcript of the
evidentiary hearing(s) in this Docket will be posted on the Commission's DMS site.^ The public
and utility customers most affected by the decision contemplated in this docket deserve and
should be entitled to access to these proceedings.
1 Order No. 32695, filed on 3/2/2015 at 2.
^ See e.g. HRS 606-13; "Where the court, of its own motion, orders a transcript to be prepared of the whole or any
part of the testimony in a civil cause, it may, in its discretion, direct the payment of the charges therefor, and the
taxation of the same as costs, in such manner as to it may seem just."
^ FOL is also concerned that a transcript of the proceedings be available in sufficient time that Parties may utilize
them to prepare post-hearing briefs, should the Commission order briefs.
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Friends of lanai filing on transcripts
- 1. BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OFTHE STATE OF HAWAII In the Matter of the Application of HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC., HAWAII ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY, INC., MAUI ELECTRIC COMPANY, LIMITED, and NEXTERA Energy, INC. For Approval of the Proposed Change of Control and Related Matters DOCKET NO. 2015-0022 EXCEPTION TO HEARING OFFICER'S RECOMMENDED PREHEARING CONFERENCE ORDER & CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE ROBIN KAYEfor FRIENDS OF LANA'I P.O. BOX 631739 LANA'I CITY, HI 96763 TELEPHONE: (808) 559-6124 friendsoflanai@gmail.com Dated: Lana'i City, Hawai'i, November 10, 2015 Respectfully submitted. /s/ Robin Kaye ROBIN KAYE For Friends of Lana'i
- 2. BEFORE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION OFTHE STATE OF HAWAII In the Matter of the Application of HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC., HAWAII ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY, INC., MAUI ELECTRIC COMPANY, LIMITED, and NEXTERA Energy, INC. For Approval of the Proposed Change of Control and Related Matters DOCKET NO. 2015-0022 EXCEPTION TO HEARING OFFICER'S RECOMMENDED PREHEARING CONFERENCE ORDER Friends of Lana'i ("FOL") hereby takes exception to paragraph No. 12 of the Hearing Officer's Recommended Prehearing Conference Order, filed with the Commission on November 5, 2015, which reads as follows: "12. To the extent that a party requests to obtain a copy of the evidentiary hearing transcripts, said party shall make the necessary arrangements directly with the court reporter, including any requests for same day transcripts." FOL initially understood this to mean that should any party need or desire an expedited copy of a transcript, it should so pay for it. In an abundance of caution, however, FOL contacted Commission staff to clarify that a copy of the hearings' transcript would ultimately be publicly available on the Commission's DMS website so that Parties unable to attend every day of the hearings, and the public as well, would have access. Unfortunately, FOL was informed that the Commission has an agreement with certain private court reporting companies, and transcripts are not publicly posted. FOL notes first that this statement is factually inaccurate. Even a cursory review of Commission Dockets reveal proceedings in which evidentiary hearings were held, and transcripts publicly posted:
- 3. Docket No. 2005-0238 2003-0197 2004-0046 2009-0049 2009-0048 2010-0171 2005-0069 Docket Title Instituting a proceeding to investigate north shore wastewater treatment (OSC) Petition for arbitration of interconnection rates, terms, and conditions Regarding integrated resource planning Application for review and approval of rate increases Application for review and approval of rate increases- water Notice of intent of Young brothers, to file an application a general rate Application for approval and/or modification of demand-side/ load management programs Hearing Date 11/15/05 12/8/03 11/26/07 5/19/10 5/11/10 11/1/11 9/1/06 Transcript Posted 12/7/05 12/29/03 12/10/07 9/2/10 7/28/10 12/23/11 9/27/06 FOL also conducted a quick review of other jurisdictions, and notes the following provide public access to transcripts of public utility commission proceedings: Florida: http://www.psc.state.fl.us/ Pennsylvania: http://www.puc.state.pa.us//pcdocs/1179362.pdf New York: http://www.dps.nv.gov/ District of Columbia: http://www.dcpsc.ore/ West Virginia: http://www.psc.state.wv.us/scripts/ North Carolina: http://www.ncuc.commerce.state.nc.us/ South Carolina: http://www.psc.sc.gov/Pages/default.aspx (all public hearings) Washington state: http://www.utc.wa.gov/Pages/default.aspx UG-151663 Transcipt.pdf The evidentiary hearings in this docket are scheduled to take place from November 30, 2015, through December 16, 2015 - a minimum of twelve (12) full days. FOL has already notified the Commission that attending all hearing days is cost-prohibitive for Neighbor Islanders, with the result FOL elected to preemptively waive its right to fully question each of the Applicants' witnesses, in order to timely comply with Commission order No. 33287. To now be informed that FOL has no choice but to incur the expense of either purchasing copies of the hearing transcripts (a public document once received by the Commission, the cost of which could easily exceed $10,000), or flying to Honolulu to sit in the Commission's office, potentially for days, effectively eliminates full and meaningful participation by FOL and others located on Neighbor Islands - as well as the public - in these proceedings. 2
- 4. In light of the Commission's previous inclinations to make the proceedings in this docket as public as possible (the Commission stated it is "difficult to understate the importance [of this proceeding] not only to the ratepayers of the HECO companies but to the state of Hawaii's citizens and its economy[,]"^) transcripts of the evidentiary hearings should be publicly posted. To allow an undisclosed "agreement" with for-profit court reporters to supersede the interests of Hawaii's residents and utility customers in following the proceedings would be an unfortunate decision, unbecoming of a "public agency" in dealing with a public document.^ Members of the general public-even on O'ahu - a r e not likely to be able to attend the full hearings, and therefore will remain uninformed of the proceedings; only a handful of attorneys and those for-profit entities that can afford the costs of travel and/or transcript purchase will be fully informed and able to participate. Based on the foregoing, FOL respectfully asks the Commission to issue a Prehearing Conference Order in which it clarifies paragraph No. 12, to the extent that a transcript of the evidentiary hearing(s) in this Docket will be posted on the Commission's DMS site.^ The public and utility customers most affected by the decision contemplated in this docket deserve and should be entitled to access to these proceedings. 1 Order No. 32695, filed on 3/2/2015 at 2. ^ See e.g. HRS 606-13; "Where the court, of its own motion, orders a transcript to be prepared of the whole or any part of the testimony in a civil cause, it may, in its discretion, direct the payment of the charges therefor, and the taxation of the same as costs, in such manner as to it may seem just." ^ FOL is also concerned that a transcript of the proceedings be available in sufficient time that Parties may utilize them to prepare post-hearing briefs, should the Commission order briefs. 3
- 5. CERTIFICATE OF SERVICE FOL hereby certifies that a copy of the foregoing Exception to the Hearing Officer's Recommended Prehearing Conference Order was duly served upon the Commission and the parties by electronic mail and/or U.S. mail, postage prepaid, and properly addressed pursuant to HAR§6-61-21(d). DIVISION OF CONSUMER ADVOCACY HAWAIIAN ELECTRIC COMPANY, INC., HAWAI'I ELECTRIC LIGHT COMPANY, INC., and MAUI ELECTRIC COMPANY, LIMITED Jeffrev.T.Ono@dcca.hawaii.gov Dean.K.Nishina@dcca.hawaii.gov Jon.S.ltomura@dcca.hawaii.gpv Leslev.K.Matsumoto@dcca.hawaii.gov Louise.J.Tadali@dcca.hawaii.gov Joseph P. Viola: Daniel G. Brown: Sandra W. Larsen: Kevin M. Katsura: Brian Y. Hiyane: Thomas W. Williams, Jr. Peter Y. Kikuta: Craig I. Nakanishi: NEXTERA ENERGY, INC. Douglas A. Codiga: Bryan Anderson: KirkGillen: AES HAWAII, INC. Jeffery D. Harris: Greggory L. Wheatland: Don J. Gelber: ioseph.viola@hawaiianelectric.com dan.brown@hawaiianelectric.com sandra.larsen@hawaiianelectric.com kevin.katsura@hawaiianelectric.com brian.hivane@hawaiianelectric.com twilliams@goodsill.com pkikuta@goodsill.com cnakaniahi@cades.com MergerDocket@hawaiianelectric.com dcodiga@schlackito.com Brvan.Anderson@fpl.com Kirk.Gillen@fpl.com idh@eslawfirm.com glw@eslawfirm.com D.J.Gelber@PacLawTeam.com THE GAS COMPANY, LLC, dba HAWAII GAS Wil K. Yamamoto: Tyler P. McNish: William K. Meheula YC2015-0022@vchawaii.com wvamamoto@vchawaii.com tmcnish@vchawaii.com meheula@smlhawaii.com THE ALLIANCE FOR SOLAR CHOICE Tim Lindl: Robert Harris: BLUE PLANET FOUNDATION Richard Wallsgrove: COUNTY OF HAWAII William Brilhante, Jr. William Rolston: Cathy Ferreira: tlindl@kfwlaw.com robert@allianceforsolarchoice.com richard@blueplanetfoundation.org blueplanetmergerfilings@gmail.com WHIiam.Brilhante@hawaiicountv.gov William.Rolston@hawaiicountv.gov cathv.ferreira@hawaiicountv.gov
- 6. COUNTY OF MAUI Patrick Wong: Michael Hopper: Kal Kobayashi: DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS, ECONOMIC Gregg Kinkley: MarkGlick: Jeff Genzer: KAUAI ISLAND UTILITY COOPERATIVE David J. Minkin: Brian T. Hirai: Peter J. Hamasaki: HAWAII ISLAND ENERGY COOPERATIVE David J. Minkin: Brian T. Hirai: Peter J. Hamasaki: HAWAII PV COALITION Colin Yost; MarkDuda: HAWAII RENEWABLE ENERGY ALUANCE Warren Bollmeier: HAWAII SOLAR ENERGY ASSOCIATION Pat.Wong@co.maui. hi.us michael.hopper@co.maui.hi.us Kal.Kobavashi@co.maui.hi.us DEVELOPMENT, AND TOURISM Gregg.J.Knklev@hawaii.gov Mark.B.Glick@dbedt.hawaii.gov JCG@dwgp.com minkin@m4law.com hirai@m4law.com hamasaki@m4law.com minkin@m4law.com hirai@m4law.com hamasaki@m4law.com colin@revolusun.com mark@dephawaii.com wsb@lava.net wbollmeier@gmail.com Rick Reed: Chris DeBone: HINA POWER CORP. Chris Mentzel: HONOLULU BOARD OF WATER SUPPLY Bill Milks: Dan Lawrence: Ernest Lau: LIFE OF THE LAND Henry Curtis: KA LEI MAILE ALII HAWAIIAN CIVIC CLUB Henry Curtis: OFFICE OF PLANNING, STATE OF HAWAII Bryan C. Yee: Terrance M. Revere: Scott Hempling: PUNA PONO ALLIANCE Thomas L. Travis: rreed@solarsupplv.com chris@hawaiienergvconnection.com cm@hinacorp.com pacsol2015@gmail.com dlawrence@honolulu.gov elau@hbws.org henrv.lifeoftheland@gmail.com henrv.lifeoftheland@gmail.com Brian.C.Yee@hawaii.com terrv@revereandassociates.com Shempling@scotthemplinglaw.com ttravisl2@mac.com RENEWABLES ENERGY ACTION COALITON OF HAWAII, INC. ErikKvam: Erik.Kvam@REACHawaii.org SIERRA CLUB Isaac H. Moriwake: imoriwake@earthiustice.org
- 7. SUNEDISON, INC. Bruce Nakamura: Joseph A Stewart: Carrie Allen: SUNPOWER CORPORATION Sandra-Ann Y.H. Wonj Riley Saito: Thomas Starrs: TAWHIRI POWER LLC Sandra-Ann Y.H. Wonj ULUPONO INITIATIVE LLC KyleDatta: Michael R. Marsh: DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY, DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE ban@ksglaw.com ias@ksglaw.com callen@sunedison.com sawonglaw@hawaii.rr.com rilev.saito@sunpower.com Thomas.starrs@sunpower.com sawonglaw@hawaii.rr.com hipuc(5)tawhiri.us kdatta@ulupono.com ulupono@perkinscoie.com mmarsh@caselombardi.com James J. Schubert: Dr. Kay Davoodi: Makda Solomon: James.i.schubert@naw.mil Khoiasteh.davoodi@navv.mil Makda.solomon@navv.mil DATED: November 10, 2015, Lana'i City, Hawaii: /s/ Robin Kaye Robin Kaye For Friends of Lana'i
- 8. FILED 2015 Nov 10 PM 12:ie PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION The foregoing document was electronically filed with the State of Hawaii Public Utilities Commission's Document Management System (DMS).