By Kate Gardiner6/19/2008 3:50:46 PM, Molokai News
Photo By: Kate Gardiner
PUC moves to force temporary solvency
The state Public Utilities Commission filed a temporary rate increase on behalf of Molokai Ranch Monday in an effort to stave off the closure of three utilities on Molokai's West End.
The water and sewage companies, together with three other private companies, control public water access for 3,300 individuals and clients on half of the island.
According to the petition, rates will likely climb after a state PUC hearing on Molokai July 15, at Maunaloa Elementary (10 a.m.), provided all three PUC members agree with the proposal.
The move is precedent-setting for the PUC, which has never before filed a rate increase on behalf of the consumer; usual procedure requires utilities to apply to the commission, which then evaluates whether or not the rate change is justified.
Rates for the three affected companies will go up between 121 and 41 percent for a period of six months until some other solution to the operating problem is found.
Molokai Properties Limited, which operates the six companies, closed its Molokai operation April 5 and laid-off the last of its workers May 22....
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