Pending PUC appointment adds drama to NextEra deal

When Michael Champley was picked by Gov. Neil Abercrombie to join the three-member Public Utilities Commission, the selection was making environmentalists across the state smile.

Back in 2011, the Blue Planet Foundation, which had Champley on staff as a policy consultant, said the state was getting a great catch.

“Champley comes with decades of experience in energy policy and a toolbox of solutions to wean Hawaii from its dependence on fossil fuel,” said Jeff Mikulina, Blue Planet executive director.

Champley, who lives on Maui, is considered a national energy expert and has served 40 years as an executive with large power companies.

The question now is not his qualifications, but how Champley fits into one of the biggest decisions ever put before the PUC regarding Florida-based NextEra Energy’s $4.3 billion purchase of Hawaiian Electric Co.

Last week, Gov. David Ige’s office confirmed that Champley would not be renominated for a second term.

Ige, according to his office, has two options: either keep Champley as a holdover commissioner or make a new interim appointment.

So this becomes an exercise in exquisite timing.

While Champley’s term ends June 30, the HECO-NextEra deal has a June 3 drop-dead clause.

Honolulu Star-Advertiser energy reporter Kathryn Mykleseth reported in February that NextEra officials passed out industry analyst reports saying NextEra was serious about the June 3 date.

NextEra bidding “aloha” would bring a big smile to Ige’s face, because he has made dumping the HECO-NextEra merger a signature part of his administration’s energy policy.

Champley figures in all this because there are only three people voting on the fate of the multibillion dollar deal: Champley; fellow commissioner Lorraine Akiba, who was also appointed by Abercrombie; and Randy Iwase, the Ige appointee.

Although nobody is saying how they will vote, the speculation is that Iwase will follow the Ige lead, so Champley and Akiba can tip the balance either way.

At the same time, legislative leaders were signalling to Ige to not monkey around with the Champley appointment as a way to find another commissioner to kill the NextEra purchase deal. If Ige finds an opponent to the HECO deal to put on the PUC, the deal could die, even if both parties agree to extend past the June 3 date.

Adding to the pressure was an opinion piece in the April 3 Honolulu Star-Advertiser editorial section, saying “should the PUC opt to not to rule in time, thereby allowing the merger agreement to expire and NextEra Energy to walk away, it would be a lasting black eye for Hawaii.”

The op-ed was signed by a gold-plated list of Hawaii heavy hitters, including Walter Dods, retired chairman/CEO of First Hawaiian Bank; Mitch D’Olier, retired CEO of Kaneohe Ranch Co.; and Ron Taketa, executive secretary-treasurer of the Hawaii Regional Council of Carpenters.

Playing politics with the PUC and the NextEra buyout might be tempting to Ige, but as one lawmaker said about the issue last week: “The governor doesn’t need another black eye.”