Public Advocate No. 1

John Cole's raring to fight your bad cell service, cut your energy bills and pop the state gas cap – and he's already paid for. So why haven't you called?

photo: Jimmy Forrest

As a youth in Michigan, John Cole dreamed of being a live-saving doctor. "Ever since I was a kid," reminisces Cole, the 41-year-old executive director of the Division of Consumer Advocacy. "That's why I got the [University of Hawaii] biology degree."

Then came his fork in the road – her name was Naomi Yokozeki.

Cole got engaged and Naomi got into law school in St. Louis. "So I went with her," says Cole. He was waited-listed at two medical schools in St. Louis, worked in a chemistry laboratory and helped his wife study. He found law interesting. It also had other perks. "I was married by then, our first child was on the way and I thought law school takes three years and med school, who knows how long."

When he and his wife came back to Hawaii after law school, Cole started working for the state Legislature. He served under state Rep. Ed Case and later state Rep. Marcus Oshiro. When Gov. Linda Lingle was elected, he came over to work for her administration.

Some thought that – working for a Republican – was going to the Dark Side. Not Cole. "I don't particularly care for party labels," says Cole. "I work for people I appreciate." A year and half ago, he moved over to consumer affairs, a place where Cole believes he can – if not save lives like in his boyhood dreams – help protect and improve the lives of Hawaii residents.

Although, he adds, he needs more residents to call him if he is going to do it right.

HB: First things first, your family moved from Michigan to the Big Island when you were a teenager. That must have been a big change.
JC: My father was in the laundry, dry-cleaning business and one of his friends asked him if he'd come out and run one in Hilo. I was just about to go into my senior year. But I went to St. Joseph and it worked out really well. Right away, the first thing the guys asked me was if I played volleyball. I said, ‘a little bit' and the next day I was at practice and on the team. So I didn't have trouble making friends or fitting in.

HB: You've said a top priority for you as public advocate is to get more community involvement. Does the public know what your office does?
JC: No, I don't think there is a lot of understanding out there. So we are trying to do more outreach and education and trying to improve our Web site to make it more user-friendly.

HB: That begs the question: What does your office do?
JC: Basically we represent consumers on utility matters. Whether it is in front of our Public Utilities Commission or other state or federal agencies. Our main mission is to try to insure that utilities consumers have reliable services at reasonable rates. But that involves more than just the cost out of pocket. When I think energy, I think long term. If we can make some shifts to renewables and other sources, other than petroleum, that will result, in the long run, saving consumers money.

>> FAST FACT:

The Division of Consumer Advocacy says it reviewed close to 270 tariff changes and applications in 2005. To give your input or just to talk about a utility service, call consumer advocate John Cole at 586-2800 or email him at consumeradvocate@dcca.hawaii.gov.

HB: So your office is backing renewables from a cost perspective?
JC: I think long-term economics will force it that way. But I think if we shepherd things now it will make things even better. I mean wind energy now is cheaper than oil-fired generation. A couple of recent wind-power projects we reviewed are cheaper. Photovoltaic will come down in price as well.

HB: Photovoltaics?
JC: Solar panels. They are starting to look at wave power, too, and all kinds of different technologies.

HB: How does your office help that along?
JC: We are involved in several ways, for instance, with the Legislature when things come up that they want to change statutorily. Right now, under the renewable standards portfolio law, the Legislature is looking at how utilities get their rates and looking at ways to incentivize them to get utilities to move toward renewable resources.

Another example is the PUC is considering competitive bidding for new generation. So in the case the utility would need a new generating resource, we are involved in investigating whether they should go out to competitive bid, which would ensure the least cost power would come on line – and it could require that it is a renewable resource.

HB: You talk about getting more community involvement. How do people get involved and what effect will it have?
JC: One of the things we can do is to help consumers be better educated on utility issues and be better consumers, whether it is things that they can do at home to use less electricity or when they are shopping around for cell service, which ones are best and what to look out for. The involvement also comes along when there are rate cases in front of the PUC. The PUC has public hearings on a lot of things, particularly on rate dockets, but the attendance at those is fairly dismal.

HB: It is sort of free consulting?
JC: (Laughing) As best we can.

HB: But how is this office perceived? Are you looked at as just another part of the government, or as an independent voice?
JC: I think we get both. Our staff does a great job of looking at each application before the PUC and basically watch-dogging it, making sure what they are requesting is appropriate and the numbers are correct. At the same time, nobody likes rate hikes, but they are necessary as costs go up for the utilities.

HB: Do you find there is one big stumbling block in changing the perception of this office, particularly if what people want to hear is no rate hike?
JC: It's true. A lot of consumer advocate offices around the country don't quite do what we do. They do stand up and shout a lot. Our office's approach is more analytical and evidence based. It may not be as exciting or as rabble rousing as some might want it or expect.

HB: So if someone called you and asked you for your stance on the gas cap, what would you tell them?
JC: That's a tough question. Initially, I think it was not good for consumers, particularly with the price spikes on the Mainland. And it is not good for consumers, because that sort of thing will happen again. So far I think consumers got the short end of the stick.

HB: That is a pretty straight assessment. So if it came up again in this session, would you advocate against it?
JC: It will come up and I think I will tell them there are better ways to do it. In my view, it would be better to get the information from the market players, whether they are the refineries or jobbers or the retailers, have their pricing and cost information and be able to monitor that. Then have tougher laws against unfair pricing.

HB: It sounds like you deal with some pretty contentious issues. Are you still glad you became a lawyer?
JC: Definitely, I think I am lucky to be involved in trying to move policies in the right direction for consumers. Overall, government work with the Legislature and the governor's office is kind of the big-picture view most people don't get. But I am still kind of a science guy at heart. I read Scientific American. I am into tech stuff and all kinds of science stuff in my spare time.

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