Randy Iwase, whose nomination to head the state Public Utilities Commission was unanimously recommended Tuesday by a Senate committee, said it could take a year to 18 months for the commission to decide whether to approve the sale of Hawaiian Electric Industries to Juno Beach, Fla.-based NextEra Energy Inc.
The two companies have said they hope to get PUC approval and close the sale this year.
NextEra announced in December its intention to buy HEI, the parent company of the state’s three major utilities, for $4.3 billion.
Iwase said he wants to hold public hearings on the proposed sale on all islands.
"Something I am moving towards, pretty quickly, actually," Iwase said. "We are not required to hold a public hearing. My thinking is maybe we should. Not just on Oahu, not just on the four major islands, but to include Lanai and Molokai."
Iwase said there are four other cases pending before the PUC which must be decided first because of the impact they could have on how the commission looks at the NextEra case.
Gov. David Ige selected Iwase in January to head the PUC, succeeding former Chairwoman Hermina Morita, who resigned. Iwase is a former Mililani state senator and Democrat who ran against Republican Gov. Linda Lingle in 2006.
The nomination now goes to the full Senate.
"We find that he’s going to be a fine chair of the PUC, and we look forward to working with (Iwase)," said state Sen. Rosalyn Baker (D, South and West Maui), chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, which voted 6-0 to recommend Iwase.
Despite his slim background in the industry, Iwase said he would use his experience as an attorney to better understand Hawaii’s energy policy.
"I will admit that I am not an expert in the energy field nor in utilities regulation — but as lawyers must do, I will learn the subject area," Iwase said. "Moreover, given my years in public service, I do grasp public policy. I do understand that we who serve must execute on those policies."
To help review the NextEra deal and other pending cases, Iwase announced he has added to his staff, including two attorneys and two researchers, and has reached an agreement with an executive officer who will help manage the operations of the commission.
"The staff I have now, if we could double it with the people we have, just clone them, yeah, we would have enough," Iwase said. "We are entitled to 65 people," he said. "When I started in the latter part of January, we had 35."
The Iron Workers Stabilization Fund, Department of Transportation, Department of Budget and Finance, Ulupono Initiative and Blue Planet Foundation were some of the organizations that testified in support of Iwase.
