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Sunset at Kaunolu Mahalo for All You Do To Keep Lana'i Lana'i Thank You! Your calls, letters, visits and e-mails made an impact on our legislators. Much of the Senate floor discussion on SB2785 centered on opposition from Lana'i and Moloka'i. Senators Hee, Chun Oakland and Slom voted "NO", and they are, if you're still in the writing mode, to be congratulated and thanked. Ten Senators voted "with reservations," which means that A MAJORITY of the Senate had problems with this bill. So, while it passed, it was only at the very last minute, with lots of acknowledgements of our concerns. Now we need to raise the volume and expand the audience. We need to let HECO ratepayers know what this bill really will do. It was misleading at best to hear Senators, especially the Chair of the Senate's Committee on Energy and Environment, say that all the bill does is establish a regulatory framework should a cable be built. That's really not all it does. What it REALLY does is give the green light to potential cable developers by GUARANTEEING them and HECO a complete recovery of their expenses through HECO ratepayer bills. Friends of Lana'i P.O. Box 631739 Lanai City, Hawaii 96763 friendsoflanai@gmail.com 808-559-6124 What does SB2785 actually say? Who pays for the construction of the $1 billion undersea cable? YOU: ** "The commission [PUC] shall establish a cable surcharge to allow recovery of the high voltage electric transmission cable system costs designated for recovery..." What if HECO starts their on-island infrastructure upgrades but then stops? Who pays for their work -- YOU: **"If the electric utility company elects not to complete the on-island transmission infrastructure ... the electric utility company shall be allowed to recover reasonable costs determined by the commission to have been prudently incurred by the electric utility company." And who pays HECO back for their completed on-island costs? YOU: ** "An electric utility company may recover, through an automatic rate adjustment clause, its revenue requirement resulting from the capital costs that it prudently incurs for on-island transmission infrastructure." David Murdock And who's the Lana'i beneficiary of SB2785? Not You!!