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Civil Beat has done a marvelous job covering the evidentiary hearings the Public Utilities Commission is holding at the Blaisdell Center on the proposed Florida-based NextEra Energy takeover of the HECO companies (running from Nov. 30 through Feb. 10 with a few days off in between). It’s a very good thing for us Neighbor Islanders that CB did, because attending in person would have been a most expensive proposition.

Friends of Lanai is an intervenor in this HECO/NextEra docket and has complied with all PUC orders and required filings. But when the PUC ordered the more than 20 Parties to submit a list of NextEra/HECO witnesses each wanted to cross-examine at the hearings — and FOL would have to attend in person to do this — we had an “oops” moment, big time.

After all, the first two rounds of hearings ran for 20 days and FOL’s costs for airfare and hotel alone would have run close to $10,000, never mind cabs, food, and the formal business attire required for admission. So we regretfully informed the PUC the expense was prohibitive, reluctantly gave up our right to cross-examine NextEra/HECO witnesses, and said we would wait for the transcript of the hearings to write a post-hearing brief.

Imagine FOL’s surprise when we learned there would be no publicly posted transcript, we had to buy one from the court reporter. So we checked with some of the old timers in PUC proceedings and learned, as CB reported here and here, this could run just about the same as FOL’s airfare/lodging expenses, or close to $10,000!

I have to admit, I started to sweat a bit at this news, but was assured that after the hearings were over, I could always 1) travel to Honolulu, 2) sit at the PUC for as long as it took to read thousands of pages of the one copy of the transcript they would make publicly available, and 3) pay for copies of any pages I needed. So we did the math and concluded – since hotel prices are not expected to go down any time soon — FOL couldn’t afford that either.

Enter Life of the Land, who filed a motion for media access with the Commission, and Olelo, who agreed to film the hearings and post them online each day. The PUC granted the motion, Olelo set up its cameras, and I settled in to watch (and take notes) at my kitchen table each morning. Not only could I watch the hearings on a live feed , I could fill in any gaps once the hearing was over through .

So what was it like to remotely attend the PUC/NextEra hearings? I could hang my laundry during one of Chair Randall Y. Iwase’s “senior” breaks (being a senior, I needed them too). I could watch the proceedings in my jammies, and I could yell at the computer all I wanted: “Objection! Asked-and-answered! Irrelevant!”

In short, I was in heaven — many, many mahalos to Olelo’s Jonathan Wong and his stellar crew for making this possible.

Out of respect for the Commission FOL did attend the last three days in person, Feb. 8-10, in case the Commission had any questions for FOL; I have to say it was really, really painful.

Gone were the brilliant, close-up shots of the Commissioners, attorneys and witnesses, gone the ability to pause and re-run a session, gone the ability to assess credibility by carefully watching witnesses testify. In fact, I noticed many of the Parties and their lawyers were paying much more attention to their personal devices than to what was happening on the witness stand: but then, they can afford a transcript.

I know I took very few notes while I was there last week, because I knew I could see it all much better on Olelo back home here on Lanai. Besides, for those three days it was way more fun to just sit at the Blaisdell and watch what seemed like hundreds of NextEra’s mainland lawyers milling around.

We haven’t quite solved the problem of how FOL will write a brief citing to a TV show instead of the more normal citation to the record’s transcript (i.e., “NextEra witness Eric Gleason informed the Commission that NextEra intended to bring over 3-5 executives from Florida to help run the HECO Companies. See Olelo at 1:05:40 on Dec. 2, 2015”) but we’ll figure something out.

How do we fix this, so Neighbor Islanders without deep, deep pockets are not treated like second-class citizens? Perhaps Hawaii needs an “Intervenor Compensation Program” like California’s. Pursuant to Section of the California Public Utilities Code, if a Party provides substantial contribution to Commission proceedings, like raising an issue not raised by others or providing meaningful research, you can get your costs reimbursed.

“You don’t have to win,” according to ’s (TURN) Executive Director Mark Toney, “and in California, every $1 dollar spent on intervenor participation saves $100 that might have been awarded in higher rates.”

We should definitely bring this up with our neighbor island Legislators next session, since this session they are attempting to address this very inequity for Commissioners themselves, through . Apparently if you are a Public Utilities Commissioner and don’t live on Oahu, you are relegated to the same expensive canoe as the rest of us.

There have already been close to 4,000 views of these Olelo-filmed-and-posted hearings, and there is a third round of hearings scheduled for Feb. 29 through March 4. On behalf of FOL, I intend to be present for every second of this third round of hearings — remotely. I hope you will join me, from wherever you are.