Dive Brief:
- The Hawaii First Circuit Court has ruled that Gov. David Ige was right to appoint a new member to the Public Utilities Commission when former Commissioner Michael Champley's term ended in June.
- Ige appointed Thomas Gorak, chief counsel to the Hawaii PUC, to replace Champley just weeks before a planned vote on NextEra Energy's attempted acquisition of Hawaiian Electric Industries. That deal was ultimately rejected.
- Former PUC Chairwoman Mina Morita filed the legal challenge to Gorak's appointment. The lawsuit claimed the governor should have waited until the state Senate could confirm a new PUC member in order to appoint a replacement.
Dive Insight:
Despite the furor surrounding Ige's appointment of Gorak, the new PUC commissioner will remain in place at least until May of next year when the Senate will need to confirm the decision.
Goark's appointment, so near the commission's decision deadline on the proposed $4.3 billion NextEra Energy-HECO deal, was instantly met with controversy. Gorak ultimately recused himself from the 2-0 vote that rejected the deal, but that has apparently not put an end to the matter.
Following last week's decision by Hawaii First Circuit Court, Morita has a month to appeal, the Star Advertiser reported.
After Gorark's appointment, a 10-page document titled "ODC COMPLAINT" made headlines. PUC Chair Randy Iwase called it a "smear complaint," and asked Hawaii Attorney General Doug Chin to investigate the anonymous submission. The complaint's "ODC" is presumed to have referred to the Hawaii Supreme Court’s Office of Disciplinary Counsel.
At the time Ige named Goark to replace Champley, the governor said he was unaware of how the PUC was preparing to vote on the deal. Ige said he delayed announcing Gorak as the new commissioner, expecting the PUC to issue a decision on the HECO-NextEra deal before Champley's term was up, but when the deliberations were delayed, he had no choice but to move ahead with the appointment.
