Attorneys for David Murdock’s Castle & Cooke are fighting attempts by Friends of Lanai and Pacific Business News to obtain unredacted copies of the Lanai sales agreement with Larry Ellison. 

Murdock retained the rights to develop a wind farm on Lanai when he sold the island to Ellison. And PBN reporter Duane Shimogawa and Friends of Lanai, which opposes the wind farm, want to know the specific terms of the deal. 

The sales agreement was submitted to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission following the June sale because commissioners are reviewing the transfer of public utilities between the billionaires. PBN has filed an open records request with the government agency to obtain the document and Friends of Lanai has submitted an informal request for the information, according to PUC documents filed this week.

Shimogawa’s argument, as stated in his records request: 

This request aims to reveal the components of Castle & Cooke Inc, Owner David Murdock’s “development rights” for the Industrial wind power plant on Lanal. I feel that this record, which has been redacted in many of its parts, should be entirely unredacted and revealed to the public because It is the cornerstone of the state’s energy policy. How a developer will satisfy a statewide demand for power should not be secret

Castle & Cooke attorney Craig Nakanishi’s counterargument before the PUC: 

Mr. Shimogawa’s statement that his request “aims to reveal the components of Castle & Cooke Inc. Owner David Murdock’s ‘development rights’ for the industrial wind power plant on Lanai” simply fails to justify disclosure of any the confidential information submitted in this Docket. Mr. Shimogawa’s assertion that the sale agreement is somehow the “cornerstone of the [S]tate’s energy policy” is simply without merit. What is clear in this Docket is that (1) the sale agreement sought by Mr. Shimogawa constitutes confidential and proprietary terms and conditions of a private transaction between Seller and Buyer (for the purchase and sale of Lanai assets), and would not have been submitted to the Commission but for the inclusion of the three regulated utilities, (2) Applicants and Buyer desire to keep the redacted information confidential and have only shared such confidenfial information as part of the governmental function in reviewing the indirect transfer of three regulated utilities,’^ and (3) Mr. Shimogawa and/or PBN have no/ been granted permission to view the documents by Applicants or Buyer, and are not otherwise a “qualified person” as defined in Protective Order No. 30455.

Jennifer Brooks, an attorney at the Office of Information Practices, said it was a grey area as to whether the PUC is required to disclose the information because the parties to the sale are private entities. She said it was up to the PUC to make a determination. If the commission denies the request, then the case can be brought before OIP or challenged in court.

(Photo: Proposed site of the Lanai wind farm, Civil Beat)