Doug McLeod has stepped down as Maui County’s energy commissioner and appears to be on the verge of working as a consultant to Florida-based NextEra Energy, which announced plans last month to absorb Hawaiian Electric in a multibillion-dollar merger deal.

Blogger and Life of the Land Executive Director Henry Curtis reported Wednesday that McLeod “had been hired”

by NextEra but, in a phone interview Friday, McLeod said that he was in discussions with NextEra about a job as a consultant.

He said the energy giant’s takeover of Hawaiian Electric, including its Maui and Big Island subsidiaries, would “present an amazing opportunity.”

“I’m hoping to be part of the team that advises” NextEra, he said.

But until such a job is secure, possibly in a couple of weeks, McLeod said he would be working as a private consultant.

In early December, NextEra and Hawaiian Electric Industries announced a $2.6 billion merger, or $4.3 billion with NextEra’s assumption of HEI debt.

As Maui’s energy commissioner, McLeod has been among those questioning the feasibility of a proposed 112-mile, 2,100-foot-deep cable between Maui and Oahu, a project expected to cost from $700 million to $1 billion. A year ago, NextEra was among the companies eager to install the interisland cable, seen as a way to help stabilize the state’s power grid and to connect power-hungry Oahu with firm, geothermal energy on the Big Island. The Hawaii Public Utilities Commission continues to study the matter.

McLeod said that he doesn’t foresee a problem with the position he took on the undersea cable as energy commissioner and with NextEra’s advocacy of it.

He pointed out that NextEra would need to begin with HECO’s power supply improvement plans as a “starting point.” Maui Electric Co.’s plan concluded that the undersea cable was not needed or cost effective. But as recently as last month, both NextEra and HECO top officials indicated a willingness to study the issue further and arrive at a position on the cable based on the latest information and data available.

Kal Kobayashi remains the county’s energy coordinator, a civil service position.

McLeod said he has put forward “some names” as his successor as energy commissioner, a position that pays between $70,000 to $80,000 per year.

“There’s never a perfect time to leave government,” he said. But, the end of Mayor Alan Arakawa’s first four-year term “seemed like the right time for me.”

He said he was not leaving the position because he was unhappy or in conflict with anyone in the Arakawa administration.

McLeod said that he originally agreed to take the job only for two years, but “I enjoyed doing it for four years.”

Previously, McLeod was a developer of solar power systems and “green,” eco-friendly office buildings.

Maui County spokesman Rod Antone said that the Arakawa administration was “very sad to see Doug leave.”

“He’s been at the forefront of the county’s effort to increase renewables out there in the community,” he said.

* Brian Perry can be reached at bperry@mauinews.com.