PISCES needs a plan to get funding

PISCES needs a plan to get funding

When is an emergency not an emergency? When it’s a failure to plan.

Take the case of the Pacific International Space Center for Exploration Systems (PISCES), the state agency founded to advance space exploration. The idea three years ago, when the office was moved to the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, was that it would find a way to increase business opportunity.

That hasn’t worked out, and now its leaders want an emergency appropriation of $670,000 to keep it running past the summer.

“We have to morph ourselves into something different that aligns with what the state wants,” said its director, Rob Kelso.

No kidding. Morph first — come up with a plan — then ask for the money.

In 4 years, can NextEra spare a buck?

Start budgeting for that whopping $1-a-month savings over four years that consumers would receive under NextEra Energy Inc.’s proposed buyout of Hawaiian Electric Industries. Our advice: Bank the $48. After the four-year mark, it’s anyone’s guess what the rates would be — and that $48 might come in handy.

During a second day of testimony before the Public Utilities Commission, Hawaiian Electric Co. President and CEO Alan Oshima acknowledged that the $60 million in customer savings that NextEra has touted would amount to 3 cents a day, or $1 a month.

It’s time for NextEra to provide more guarantees to consumers beyond four years.