Justice Department to Monitor Compliance with Federal Voting Rights Laws in Hawaii
Bankruptcy News: Hawaiian Electric Admits Company may not be a 'Going Concern'
Grand Wailea Bird Settlement Gives Enviros Monthly Cashflow
Is it a ‘privilege’ to do business in Hawaii?
A Legislative Analyst Office Created Decades Ago That Still Doesn’t Exist
Lahaina ‘Settlement’: Nobody will be held accountable for Fire
SA: … not everyone is happy about the settlement. In particular, some fire survivors wanting answers about what exactly led to the fires and the chaos that followed hoped those details would emerge at trial. Now some are concerned that people whose decisions may have contributed to the deaths of at least 102 people and the destruction of thousands of homes will use the settlement to walk away from accountability.
(CLUE: They’re right.)
When asked about the concerns in the community that the settlement and anticipated redactions in an upcoming ATF report into the cause of the fires could leave survivors without closure, Green said, “This question gets asked a lot of me, in public and private: Who’s responsible? Well, we’re all responsible, all of us, for caring for our people and for everything that’s in our state.”
(TRANSLATION: “Nobody will be held accountable.”)
“We are committed to releasing all the reports that come through,” Green added. “There won’t be finger-pointing. There will be discussions about how we can make things safer. … As to what some people say — ‘Isn’t it getting kind of the cart before the horse?’ — the answer is simply no. It’s our responsibility to help people recover sooner rather than later. And so that’s the reason that we came forward with the (100% FAKE) settlement.”
(TRANSLATION: “Nobody will be held accountable.”)
Green argued that going to trial could have allowed the many lawsuits to drag on for several years with uncertain resolutions. He asserted that this way, survivors are guaranteed compensation and can begin rebuilding much sooner. Payments are expected to begin in mid-2025.
(CLUE: There is no settlement. There will be no payments.)
“No decisions in court are going to help people heal,” said Green. “But we’ll, you know, we’ll explain everything. Honestly, there’s this great anticipation of these reports. (But) most of us all have a pretty clear idea of what happens and what happened that fateful day: A terrible storm spread the embers of a fire, and even though our firefighters were heroic, it was impossible to get ahead of embers that were landing because of almost 80 mile per hour winds. That’s what you’re going to see.” ….
(TRANSLATION: I already have read the ATF report. I am keeping it from you.)
read … Overall costs for Maui wildfires are expected to top $12 billion
HEI Admits Fake Settlement ‘Not Ideal’ for Insurers or Fire Victims
Seeking Alpha: … Excerpt from Hawaiian Electric Earnings Call Transcript Aug 9 2024…
Jonathan Garrett Reeder, Analyst
Okay. So, I mean, again, this is my non-legal understanding, but if HEI requires the insurance companies to work through the individual place settlement agreements, isn't that kind of putting a substantial financial and legal burden back on the victims after reaching this settlement and really not allowing them to move forward?
If the insurance companies can essentially go after these individual plaintiffs to try to recoup the $2.3 billion or whatever that they -- they've paid out so far?
Scott Deghetto, HEI Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer
Yeah. I mean, in effect, what the individual plaintiff's lawyers are arguing is that, in effect, it does result between having to resolve the issues between the individual plaintiffs and the insurance companies, so. You're correct.
Jonathan Garrett Reeder, Analyst
Okay. Yeah. No, it just doesn't seem like an ideal outcome either….
read … Hawaiian Electric Industries, Inc. (HE) Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript | Seeking Alpha
Another look back at the NextEra deal
ILind: … All the public discussion of the pending global settlement of Lahaina Fire litigation has made one thing clear: Hawaiian Electric, one of the nation’s smallest electrical utilities, has limited financial resources to contribute to the overall settlement. This “ability to pay” apparently was taken into account during settlement negotiations, which recognized that pushing Hawaiian Electric into bankruptcy would create a whole new set of problems for the entire state.
That sends me back to a question I raised a year ago: Would Hawaii have been better off if Next Era Energy’s proposed purchase of Hawaiian Electric in 2014 had gone through?...
as a much larger entity, NextEra would have brought its deep corporate pockets into Hawaii, which would have undoubtedly rattled existing relationships in business and government.
But it would also have brought the financial strength to borrow funds at lower costs, meaning additional resources that could have potentially been available to mitigate fire risks, and would have certainly been able to fund a larger contribution to the Lahaina Fire settlement….
read … Another look back at the NextEra deal
Feds Approve 50% Offset for HECO’s Grid Hardening Proposal
IM: … The Hawaiian Electric Companies filed an application with the Public Utilities Commission to commit $190 million to harden the HECO, MECO, and HELCO grids on June 30, 2022….
… HECO informed the Commission on August 30, 2023, that the utility had applied for 50% federal offset through a U.S. Department of Energy Grid Resilience and Innovation Partnerships (GRIP) grant.
HECO filed letters with the Commission noting that negotiations regarding the grant would take 60-90 days following Commission approval of the docket. HECO requested expedited approval by January 15, 2024….
In the meantime, HECO filed an application for a second phase of grid hardening with the Commission on June 19, 2024. The federal government grant would cover 48% of HECO`s cost of $480M. …
read … Feds Approve 50% Offset for HECO`s Grid Hardening Proposal
Hawaiʻi County considers allowing homeowners 3 ADUs per property
HPR: … Up to three accessory dwelling units could be built on Hawaiʻi Island residential properties if county Bill 123 gets approved.
The latest proposal by the Hawaiʻi County Council was heard this week in an effort to figure out how to allow more ADUs on the island.
The state Legislature this year required all Hawaiʻi counties to expand the number of ADUs they currently allow. Its goal is to increase the housing supply by allowing more dwelling units on properties that already have homes….
read … Hawaiʻi County considers allowing homeowners 3 ADUs per property
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