Members of the state Public Utilities Commission have a job to do. They can do it speedily, or they can do it right.

NextEra Energy Inc., the Florida utility that wants to buy Hawaiian Electric Industries for $4.3 billion, would like nothing more than for the panel to proceed right toward considering and delivering approval of the deal by year’s end.

And if the agency had not been so chronically shortstaffed and under-resourced for many years, its work backlog may not have built up to the point that it has.

Whatever the reason, that backlog now includes consideration of four cases, or dockets, that will frame the expectations the electric company should meet in exchange for its franchise.

Without a doubt, these expectations should be updated through action on the dockets before the sale goes through. NextEra should know where the state stands on the preferred role for its electric company before entering this marketplace.

NextEra, though, wants a decision made by the end of this year. PUC officials have projected that the sale decision could take a year to 18 months. That’s a time frame endorsed by Jeff Ono, the state’s consumer advocate.

And now 28 groups have been approved as intervenors in the NextEra case, able to ask questions about the proposed sale and otherwise have a close view of the proceedings.

The commission reasonably could have cleared fewer intervenors. However, even if there are overlapping constituencies on the roster of candidates, the fact that the PUC approved all of them signals the importance it places on a transparent and thorough process. That’s a good thing.

Additionally, the state Legislature correctly echoes that concern, and lawmakers have weighed in with a pair of measures, House Resolutions 158 and House Concurrent Resolution 227, both of which will be heard at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday in conference room 325.

Among other points, the resolutions call on the PUC to safeguard the public interest in reviewing the NextEra sale, ensuring reliability, reasonable rates, consumer choice and competition. These are worthwhile expressions of state policy, but they’re also warning signs that the utility companies should heed.

The preamble cites public concerns that the company "has a history of opposing competition and leveraging political influence to favor the interests of the company’s shareholders over the interests of ratepayers."

NextEra and HEI opposed 24 of the 28 intervenors and have pressed for an August deadline for their comments and for an end-of-the-year final decision.

However, perhaps hearing the alarm bells rung by the public, the companies haven’t ruled out the possibility of a 2016 closing of the sale. If that’s an opening, state officials should walk through it, and take the time needed for a full evaluation.

For its part, NextEra is a company with the experience and capacity to advance the state’s renewable energy goals.

But it, too, should take the time required to do more community outreach.

Between now and the point of decision, NextEra must overcome a clear sense of foreboding among the public the company wants to serve.