Why Subsidized Housing Costs So Much

Civil Beat Publisher Co-Sponsors Proposed $170M Electric Rate Hike

CB: … Ulupono’s participation in the proposed rate increase filing marks a significant change in the organization’s posture since the utilities commission first gave HECO the green light to pursue a rate increase. At the time, the organization, which promotes using renewable energy in Hawaiʻi, led a stampede of critics who said the commission’s green light sidestepped a mandate that regulators set rates based on the utility’s performance, known as performance-based ratemaking, or PBR. 

(TRANSLATION:  Trump cut green energy subsidies.   Therefore, to keep green energy competitive, Ulupono wants HECO rates even higher than they are.)

The Ulupono Initiative is a venture of The Omidyar Group. Pierre Omidyar is a co-founder of The Omidyar Group and of Civil Beat.

Now Ulupono is firmly on board. “The Joint Proposal,” HECO and Ulupono say in their request, “is consistent with PBR.”

Jim Kelly, HECO’s vice president for government and community relations and corporate communications, said it was highly unusual for a community organization frequently at odds with HECO to participate in filing a rate request.

“It’s easy to overlook the significance that we have a joint filing,” Kelly said. “It’s absolutely a first for us, and it might be a first for the entire utility industry.”

It remains to be seen whether that removes the sting for customers who already pay the nation’s highest rates for electricity. Hawaiʻi residents paid 41 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity in December compared to a national average of 17 cents, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration….

SA: Hawaiian Electric seeks rate hikes for next 2 years | Honolulu Star-Advertiser The proposal by Hawaiian Electric seeks to generate an additional $170 million annually for the company over most of the next five years, and would increase monthly bills for typical residential customers by an estimated $11 to $15 combined for 2027 and 2028.

read … HECO Customers May See Electric Bill Increases In 2027 - Honolulu Civil Beat

When School Governance Stops Serving Our Keiki

CB: … when we look honestly at the outcomes of Hawaiʻi’s public school system, the question many community members are beginning to ask is difficult but necessary: Is the Department of Education structured primarily to serve students — or to protect the system itself? ….

when the governance structure of a public institution begins to prioritize workforce protection over student outcomes, the mission of that institution can become blurred….

Recent StriveHI reports for schools in our region — including schools serving Nānākuli, Māʻili and Waiʻanae — show that large percentages of students remain below proficiency in core subjects such as reading and mathematics, and that chronic absenteeism remains a serious challenge across multiple campuses.

These are not abstract statistics. They represent real children whose futures depend on the quality of the education they receive today….

Hawaiʻi operates one of the most centralized public school systems in the United States. Decisions affecting hundreds of schools are made within a single statewide bureaucracy.

While this structure was originally intended to ensure fairness and equity, it can also make local accountability more difficult.

Communities can see problems, but often lack the authority to address them.

Teachers can identify challenges, but may be constrained by bureaucratic systems.

Principals carry enormous responsibility but often operate within rigid administrative frameworks. In such an environment, the easiest outcome is institutional self-preservation….

read … When School Governance Stops Serving Our Keiki - Honolulu Civil Beat

Rail: Green and Lutnick dream of Japanese Bubble

CB: … A memorandum of understanding being negotiated between the state and Japan’s Tokyu Group marks a deepening relationship between Gov. Josh Green’s administration and the Tokyo-based company best known for turning formerly empty land into Tokyo’s Shibuya ward, a bustling neighborhood that’s home to the famous Shibuya Scramble pedestrian crossing.

….The anticipated agreement with Tokyu is part of Green’s broader initiative to strengthen trade and investment ties with Japan. The initiative involves not only seeking Tokyu’s advice and potential investment in transit-oriented development, but also tapping into a $550 billion pledge the Japanese government has made to invest in U.S. infrastructure. Green has written U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick with a request to steer some of that money to Hawaiʻi to help pay for infrastructure along the rail line….

read … Does Japan Hold The Answer To Fixing Honolulu's Rail System? - Honolulu Civil Beat

Major housing and infrastructure investments for wildfire recovery move forward

MN: … The County of Maui Office of Recovery’s Hoʻokumu Hou program announced major investments in the long-term recovery from the 2023 Maui wildfires with the selection of seven multifamily rental housing projects and 22 infrastructure and mitigation improvement projects that have been conditionally awarded Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery funding….

read … Major housing and infrastructure investments for wildfire recovery move forward : Maui Now

West Maui water company wants 325% more revenue

HJI: … Olowalu residents could see their water bills climb significantly if Olowalu Water Company gets approval to raise its revenues by 325%....

read … Olowalu residents fear failing crops, fire risks if water company raises rates dramatically - Hawaii Journalism Initiative

Maui Council Panders to Anti-Telescope Activists

CB: … Following weeks of escalating public (the usual activist) opposition, the Maui County Council now stands in unanimous opposition to the military’s plan to build up to seven telescopes in a state conservation district atop Haleakalā.

The council passed a resolution Friday urging the U.S. Air Force to reject a draft environmental impact statement for the $5.9 million project and called on the National Park Service, the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Land and Natural Resources not to approve any permits…

(CLUE:  The only way the anti-telescope activists win is if politicians order the Maui PD to stand down.  This is what Harry Kim did on Mauna Kea.)

read … Military's Haleakalā Telescope Project Draws Deep Opposition On Maui - Honolulu Civil Beat

Hawaii doctors warn aging crisis is outpacing geriatric care system

SA: … On Hawaii island, for example, there are only three practicing geriatricians. Kauai has three. Maui currently has none….

read … Hawaii doctors warn aging crisis is outpacing geriatric care system | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

LEGISLATIVE AGENDA:

1. Big Q: What do you think about the proposed pause in Hawaii’s historic tax reforms? | Honolulu Star-Advertiser -- 56% “Totally Oppose”

2. Capitol Connections: Sen. Angus McKelvey on Lahaina recovery, insurance reform and affordability push

3. Beth Fukumoto: If This Session Feels All Over The Place, That's Because It Is - Honolulu Civil Beat

4. Bill-for-prescribing-psychologists-program-on Kauai-advances

5. Editorial: Noise cameras are sound idea | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

6. Prediction market bets could be restricted | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

7. ‘A lack of transparency’: Residents blast county’s plan for transitional housing in Waiakea Uka

QUICK HITS:

1. Never-ending repression: The continuous purges and ideological campaigns of North Korea and other communist regimes | NK Insider

2. South Maui’s saltier, more turbid waters could signal drought is taking a toll - Hawaii Journalism Initiative

3. Nurturing Wahine Fund held event to celebrate International Women’s Day

4. 18-year-old woman pleads not guilty to alleged sex trafficking, child abuse charges | Crime & Courts | kitv.com

5. Organizations build hope for Lahaina, and open the door to families future | News | kitv.com

6. ‘Disappointing’: Hawaiian music artists sound off after being stiffed thousands

7. Kūpuna Wait On Fix For Broken Elevator At Liliha Apartments - Honolulu Civil Beat

8. Hawaii ambassador would work to restore Canadian travel | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

9. Australia imported 101 toads from Hawaii to save sugarcane from a blight in 1935, never tested whether it would work, and created the biggest invasive species disaster in the country's history: 90 years later, the government still cannot contain the 200 million cane toads that advance about 50 km per year across the continent

10. RIP: Hawaiian surf great Reno Abellira, dead at 76 - BeachGrit

11. ISLAND HISTORY: A history of Grove Farm Museum’s sugar trains - The Garden Island