State regulators have granted Lanaians for Sensible Growth’s request to intervene in proceedings related to the transfer of Lanai utilities from David Murdock to Larry Ellison. 

However, it has denied the intervention request of Life of the Land, an Oahu-based community and environmental advocacy group. 

The PUC ruled that Life of the Land would improperly broaden the scope of issues by bringing up the issue of the proposed wind farm for Lanai:

Simply put, LOL fails to allege any connection between the issues associated with the indirect sale and transfer of the three Lanai-based public utilities and the proposed Lanai wind farm and related infrastructure.

 The PUC is allowing Lanaians for Sensible Growth to take part only on certain issues: 

The ruling, says in part: 

The commission reiterates its concern with the efficient management of Lanai’s water resources, including the adequacy of the water supply for Lanai Water Company, Inc. and Manele Water Resources, LLC. Furthermore, the existing non-compensatory water and wastewater rates, in turn, do not appear to efficiently encourage the conservation of water on Lanai -•specifically, the lack of appropriate price signals to ratepayers.

Based on LSG’s representations, the commission finds that LSG can assist the commission in developing a sound docket record on these matters. 

Read the full ruling here. 

You can find Civil Beat’s previous coverage of the issue here: