Yes, it was a magnificent rainbow that formed at the front of Kaaawa Valley on Monday morning, but it would have been even better without the wires, don’t you think?
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Rainbow on a summer morning in Kaaawa
” … even better without the wires, don’t you think?” No doubt the view would be better without the wires. So let the residents of Ka’a’awa Valley make a choice through a petition or through the neighborhood board. 1. Leave the wires; 2. Remove the wires and go back to, literally, the dark ages; 3. put the wires underground, to be paid for by a special surcharge on the electric bills for residents of Ka’a’awa Valley.
but ugly hanging wires are part of the local Hawaii Nei, a wonderful part of paradise.
that’s what public relations staff WISH they could say. would sufficient Hawaiian Electric shareholders support smaller dividend payments in exchange for beauty?
never.
Having worked in the industry I know that HECo and Hawaiian Tel would love to put the lines underground, particularly along the coast where salt spray corrosion is fierce. The problem, of course, is who pays. It is much more expensive than you would believe. You could take all of the “excess” executive compensation and ALL of the dividends for the next 20 years and it would make only the slightest dent in undergrounding utility lines on this island. Then how many residents would sit uncomplaining about the months of construction and traffic disruption that putting lines underground would entail.
Similar to my problem in Palolo-a clear shot of Diamondhead,complete with phone poles and wires. Ugly
The PUC rules require that HECO can not pay the full cost for undergrounding. As a result, some other entity, such as the developer of new subdivisions or the property owners of the area through an Improvement District funded by an extra charge added to property taxes, must agree to pay a share of the cost of undergrounding.
The rationale for the PUC rule is that it is not fair to require all the people who buy electicity from HECO to pay for undergrounding that only benefits one area.
Beautiful Kaaawa morning. Mahalo Ian for sharing.
I’ll take a Hawaiian rainbow with wires any day. 🙂 (The only rainbows I’m seeing here in Texas lately are in the lawn sprinklers. And even that’s not too often as we are under water restrictions. Sigh…)
p.s. What kind of tree is that on the far right?