The heavy lifting starts this month for Hawaii’s new governor.

David Ige may be a legislative veteran who sees the whole board before making a move, but now he has to make the first move.

Ige acknowledged as much in a half-hour interview with Honolulu Star-Advertiser reporters last week.

"It is about making decisions about where we start and it is about putting up the best recommendation we can for the Legislature to consider. It is the starting point for all discussions," Ige said.

"It is a very different kind of process."

As a cautious and careful legislator, Ige has always been the sort to appreciate both the consensus approach and the need to not get too far ahead of the pack.

Unfortunately for that style, Ige is immediately confronted with two issues needing more.

First up is the mainland energy giant NextEra’s announced purchase of Hawaiian Electric Industries. Ige’s first move is to appoint a new chair of the state Public Utilities Commission, which must approve or reject the sale. His other option would be to retain Hermina Morita as chair, but that would rob him of the chance to definitely set the direction for the PUC and Hawaii energy policy.

"This proposed acquisition by NextEra just enhances the issues and the challenges as being fundamentally important," Ige said in last week’s interview.

"A change in ownership does raise the question of will it improve our efforts to advance renewable energy or not," Ige said.

Ige was not willing to spell out what he wants from NextEra, saying, "My interest on behalf of the people of Hawaii is to make sure that the acquisition of HECO really does advance the broader desire of the community to really get off of fossil fuel."

As much as Ige stays away from specifics, members of the House and Senate will be more than willing to help fill in the blanks with their own calls for energy independence or by banning HECO from using liquefied natural gas to power its generators.

Ige’s second big problem that won’t wait is the state’s public hospital system, which again is running out of money.

The issues surrounding the hospital system are all tough. Ige figures he is the guy to handle it because he spent four years as health committee chairman working on the issue, noting, "I do think I have a better understanding than previous governors."

The problem may not be so much understanding the gears and levers, but instead stopping the politically powerful Hawaii Government Employees Association from blocking any legislative changes to the hospital workers’ contract.

"I am convinced there needs to be different provisions in the contract to deal with the hospital situation and I am asking the people involved to be aware of that and try to have the conversation with the union about why it is different," Ige said.

That’s a good first step. Ige, unlike Gov. Neil Abercrombie, is not including a muscle-flexing performance with all his public policy pronouncements.

The HGEA knows change to the hospital contract will not help union members, and a damaged membership will not support the existing union leaders. So stall, talk and then block is the course of action for the HGEA.

But for Ige, who wants to write a budget without the red ink, problems with Hawaii’s hospitals and the power company may need more than due diligence.

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Richard Borreca writes on politics on Sundays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Reach him at rborreca@staradvertiser.com.