NextEra hearing delayed

Members of the public and members of the state Public Utilities Commission will have to wait two months for the conclusion of the final evidentiary hearing regarding the proposed NextEra Energy purchase of the Hawaiian Electric companies, after testimony ran longer than the allotted time.

The PUC called for a recess Wednesday after 12 days of testimony and questioning because the Blaisdell Center in Honolulu is booked for another event. The hearings tentatively are scheduled to resume during weekdays at the Blaisdell Center from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Feb. 1-10.

At the end of Wednesday’s proceedings, PUC Chairman Randy Iwase explained that as the hearing nears its conclusion, more space will be important. The merger docket before the PUC is the largest such proceeding ever carried out in Hawaii, with the largest number of intervenors.

“We have attempted to obtain a room or venue of similar size so that it can accommodate all that we have here,” he said. “Presumably, as we move closer toward the end of the hearing, more people will show up, more of the intervenors who have never showed up will be showing up … so we had to get a venue of this size to accommodate all that we have to accommodate.

“We’ve tried to find a similar venue short of the Blaisdell. We could not. … In the meantime, we will attempt to secure, if something opens up, a venue in January so we can proceed with the hearing sooner than Feb. 1.”

The evidentiary hearing originally was supposed to last only 12 days, after which the PUC members would deliberate before issuing their decision. The regulatory review by the PUC was expected to conclude some time before June.

So far, the board members have heard from 12 witnesses in the evidentiary hearing and at least 12 more remain to be questioned, and possibly more, Iwase said in a Friday afternoon phone interview.

“We have about 26 intervenors, plus the Consumer Advocate, and most of the intervenors have yet to call their witnesses,” he said.

Should the eight additional days in February not be enough, PUC staff will have to begin looking for another venue to continue the hearing, he said.

The PUC has its own hearing room, but because of the sheer size of the docket, as well as public and media interest in the proposed $4.3 billion acquisition of Hawaii’s electric utilities, Iwase said, that facility simply won’t do.

If the hearings run over, “We would have to go and look for more space,” he said.

Iwase would not discuss details about the hearing and whether the board thought it was getting the answers it needed to render a decision.

Na Leo O Hawaii General Manager Stacy Higa said Friday that his public access channel and its sister channel, Olelo Community Media on Oahu, were committed to continuing their live broadcasts of the hearings, as well as replays later in the evening for viewers who weren’t able to watch live and providing on-demand viewing on YouTube.

Higa said he didn’t know what viewership had been through the course of the coverage, which began at the beginning of December, but he did say his office had gotten plenty of feedback about the coverage.

“We’ve had so many calls asking if we were going to continue. We’ve also had people thanking us, saying that our replays are very, very important for people who can’t watch it live during the day.

“They feel like we’re getting it out to them,” he said.

He added that “from a standpoint of sheer volume of hours of coverage and commitment of airtime, this is probably one of the longest commitments we’ve ever done.”

Email Colin M. Stewart at cstewart@hawaiitribune -herald.com.