LIHUE >> Kauai Island Utility Cooperative customers will decide in a special election whether people who refuse to install new smart meters to monitor electricity use should pay for an island utility to read and service the old meters.

The Garden Island reported today that a special ballot election starting Jan. 3 will determine who will pay the estimated $340,000 per year. The KIUC board will decide the language of the final bill before its members decide.

The utility would charge about $10 per month in fees approved by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission.

Residents against the bill say the utility is trying to manipulate its language to swing voters to vote for it.

Spokesman Jim Kelly of the cooperative says the language can be changed.