Senate President Ron Kouchi (D, Kauai-Niihau) asked state Attorney General Douglas Chin in a letter Wednesday to provide a formal opinion regarding Gov. David Ige’s authority to appoint an interim Public Utilities Commission member.

Last week Ige appointed Tom Gorak to take the place of Michael Champley as one of three commissioners at the PUC. Ige’s move came just days before the PUC was expected to rule on Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc.’s plan to buy Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. for $4.3 billion.

Ige has said he is against the sale, and critics have said he shuffled the deck at the PUC to make sure the deal was not approved. Ige denied the change was made to influence the NextEra decision.

The governor said Champley’s term was up on June 30, and that he wanted to appoint a new commissioner with views more closely aligned with his own. Ige said the attorney general had looked at the situation and confirmed in a letter that the governor has the authority to appoint Gorak as an interim commissioner.

The attorney general’s office said the letter given Ige was not a formal opinion, which carries more weight under the law.

“As time is of the essence, request is made that a formal Attorney General Opinion be issued forthwith,” Kouchi wrote.

Kouchi said the issue is whether Ige had the authority to make an interim appointment to the PUC to replace Champley. Kouchi said Champley is entitled to continue in office as a holdover commissioner until the state Senate can confirm a new appointment. The Legislature adjourned in May and will reconvene in January.

Gorak was sworn in Friday as an interim PUC commissioner and has been actively involved in PUC rulings this week.