MORE POWER TO MECO
As if there was any doubt, the state Public Utilities Commission (PUC—and yes, you can pronounce that “puke”)—approved MECO’s request for an “interim” rate hike for Maui County, according to a Dec. 22 Maui News story. Starting “immediately,” all residential customers in the county will see a 3.7 percent increase in their monthly electric bill—which translates to an average of between six and seven bucks a month—to pay for new generators at the Ma`alaea power station. Now MECO would have risen a lot higher—how many companies can get rate hikes at the flip of a switch?—except for the tiny fact that they’d asked for a permanent 5.3 percent hike. The PUC “will continue to review” that request, reported The Maui News.
RANK PREVIOUS COMPANY
1 1 Alexander & Baldwin
2 2 Monsanto Hawai`i
3 4 Maui Electric Co.
4 3 Weinberg Foundation
5 5 Dowling Co.
6 7 Maui Land & Pineapple Co.
7 6 Tesoro Hawai`i
8 8 Goodfellow Brothers
9 9 Wailuku Water Co.
10 10 Hawaiian Telcom
GOOD NEWS FOR ML&P!
It’s been a tough few months for old Maui Land & Pine. Tiger Woods bailed—yet again—on their big Mercedes Championship in Kapalua. The Maui County Council’s Land Use Committee held a quickie hearing on the company’s big Westside Pulelehua project, then dropped the matter indefinitely. Maui Land stock, which had been running about $37 a share in the spring, is now hovering only in the high 20s. But now, things are looking a lot sunnier. According to a Dec. 21 post on the Pacific Business News website, the quaint but outstanding Honolua Store in Kapalua has just expanded and renovated its deli and menu. And that is really something to celebrate. MTW
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