The Molokai Times
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
By Kate Gardiner
Twelve hundred clients could be without water as of August if Molokai Ranch has its way. The company, officially called Molokai Properties Limited, will stop funding for its six water and sewage utility companies on the island at the end of August.
MPL chief executive officer Peter Nicholas said in a letter to the state Public Utilities Commission his company no longer needed the services of its utilities, and was thus severing ties with the companies.
Additionally, Nicholas cited a state Supreme Court decision made in December that forced MPL and its subsidiaries to re-apply to the state commission on water resources management for a permit to operate its water source, Well 17. Nicholas says his companies, all subsidiaries of MPL, do not have the funding necessary to file the permit application.
The issue does not only apply to Molokai, says the island's state Senator, J. Kalani English. Speaking Wednesday, English said MPL's decisions are without precedent. "They're bankrupting the subsidiaries and dumping them on the county," he said. "What about other developers throughout the state in the same situation, who are not regulated by the public utilities commission?"
English said he understands the governor's position on the topic, "I know the administration's position is that the county can take it—they have the wherewithal, and there's 20,000 consumers to spread the liability over… but is this going to be the universal response to every utility company that closes?" English also wondered about the responsibilities of the company to landowners who purchased property on Molokai's West End, from MPL, with the promise of water and sewage utilities operated by the company.
"It depends on the terms and conditions of the exchange," said English. "Is it the landowners who would have to initiate a lawsuit against Molokai Ranch?"
Potential lawsuits aside, it is apparent that the Ranch will be pulling out of the water utility business, potentially leaving a void. "Unless some public or private entity is located to take over the operations of these three companies by the end of August," concluded Nicholas. "There will probably be an unavoidable termination of services to these customers."
Original article URL: http://www.molokaitimes.com/articles/864163350.asp