PUC holds public meeting on Kauai Island Utility Cooperative wildfire mitigation plan

The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission on Kauai held a public meeting to take community comment on Kauai Island Utility Cooperative’s wildfire mitigation plan, filed in docket number 2020Five-two55, the commission said.

Brett Rockwell, a representative of Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC), provided a roughly 20-minute overview of KIUC’s plan, describing the plan’s objectives, risk drivers, key mitigation “pillars” and projected costs. Michael Angelo, executive director of the Hawaii Division of Consumer Advocacy in the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, told the meeting the consumer advocate will independently review KIUC’s filings and conduct discovery before making recommendations to the commission.

The plan’s stated objectives, Rockwell said, are to “reduce risk for our members” and “create increased reliability,” and to prevent, mitigate, respond to, assist and recover from wildfires while complying with law and reducing liability. Rockwell summarized the commission’s evaluation framework: whether the plan meets technical-feasibility and effectiveness criteria, uses resources efficiently, demonstrates continued progress, includes forward-looking improvements and clearly defined performance metrics, and otherwise serves the public interest.

Rockwell described specific risk drivers and operational triggers the plan…