Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) has launched a redesigned website offering easier navigation, online fillable forms, educational videos and more.

“This has been a true team effort, led by Shelley Paik from Communications and Kymi Sakai from Member Services, and involving employees from all areas of our operation,” said KIUC’s President and Chief Executive Officer, David Bissell. “It’s taken nearly six months to build this site and we hope our members are happy with the result.”

The web URL has changed to www.kiuc.coop. One of the biggest changes is the inclusion of fillable forms for everything from new service applications and grant applications to Board of Director election nomination materials. “Since COVID required us to discontinue walk-in service, we’ve been working to make phone and virtual interactions easier,” said Member Services Manager Maile Alfiler. “The new website was designed with this in mind.”

An “Outage Center” has been added, which includes KIUC’s outage map along with frequently asked questions. A page devoted to safety includes in-home safety tips, a safety checklist and a quiz. Educational videos on topics such as how to improve energy efficiency in your home and how to reset your meter if your account is service limited have also been added.

Touchstone Energy assisted in the design and provided the web platform free-of-charge due to KIUC’s membership in the national organization which services energy cooperatives.

Sakai credits input from employees in the field for guiding content development and ensuring the site is relevant to KIUC members’ needs. “They’re on the front line every day and helped us better understand what our members are looking for,” she said.

According to Paik, the process will be ongoing. “We’re working on more educational videos and hope to hear from our members what they want to see on the site going forward.”