Hawaiian Electric has too much power
By Kirsten Kagimoto | Reading time: 6 minutes
If we learned anything from the early stages of Hawaiʻi's transition to clean energy and COVID-19, it's that too much power—measured in electrons, authority and privilege—is held by Hawaiian Electric.
Hawaiian Electric has been the primary power producer since before the (illegal) overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom. Today, the corporation still controls 95% of the electricity produced in the islands. With that kind of grid control comes authoritative power and economic privilege seen little where else in our island community.
The COVID-19 pandemic revealed quite a bit about our energy system. It made it clearer than ever that electricity is a part of nearly everything we do. It should not be a privilege to have access to affordable electricity, it is a basic human right. When we stayed home more, using more of our own electricity than the electricity at work, school and restaurants, we learned exactly how much electricity we use because we saw the gut-wrenching increases in our residential electricity bills.
On one hand, we were incredibly fortunate that our Public Utilities Commission stepped up to keep our power on, mandating that electricity and other utilities could not be suspended if the household could not pay their bills during the pandemic. On the other hand, this is a problem that should not exist on such a large scale—electricity should not be such a large burden on most households. It is not uncommon to find households that put 20-30% of their household income toward their electricity bills. Energy burden, the percentage of income spent on electricity, is considered "high" at 6% and "severe" at 10%. Much of Hawaiʻi is well above that.
Their privilege is showing. Of the 2020 top 30 highest paid public board members in Hawaiʻi, 30% of them are Hawaiian Electric executives. While the majority of Hawaiʻi was struggling to make ends meet, Hawaiian Electric made more than $169 million in 2020—the highest annual earnings the corporation has ever seen. Even with thousands of residential and commercial accounts delinquent on bills, our energy provider saw a profit increase. They also laid off around 100 workers in 2020. Now they are circling back and asking those households and businesses—many of whom may have just had the hardest year of their lives—to pay back their unpaid bills on top of their current bills. This is not reasonable when you consider that Hawaiian Electric paid its top executives almost $3 million in bonuses AND increased profit without collecting any of those overdue bills.
Clearly, Hawaiian Electric and their executives do not need this money, not in the same way that working families need this money to survive. So, why is Hawaiian Electric insisting on collecting on unpaid bills. It seems reasonable to us that Hawaiian Electric forgive those unpaid bills and move on. Maybe that means they don't give executive bonuses in 2021? If anyone can manage to scrape by in 2021, it is probably the highest paid executives in the state.
We worked hard in 2020 to keep the lights on in our communities and we continue to call on Hawaiian Electric to do better. Together, with your advocacy, we were able to:
Secure six extensions of the utility shutoff moratorium
Expand the eligibility of Hawaiian Electric's payment plans for residential customers
Influence Hawaiian Electric's decision to give $3 million in financial assistance to its customers
Inform the utilities' reporting criteria on arrearages and financial standing to the Public Utilities Commission
Hawaiian Electric isn't fit to get us through the climate crisis or to 100% renewable energy. Six years after Hawaiʻi set its eye on being 100% renewable energy powered by 2045, the islands remain mostly powered by fossil fuels—worsening the climate crisis and keeping our electricity rates some of the highest in the nation.
Sure, Hawaiian Electric is meeting its legally-bound benchmarks toward 100% renewable energy but the first part was the easiest. Now, we are seeing our electric utility struggle to progress. But let's be clear, that is by their own doing. Sure, transitioning to clean renewable energy is no easy feat, but Hawaiian Electric is making it much harder than it needs to be. And that's because the corporation doesn't want to lose its power, its control, or its profits. They aren't acting for the climate or the community, they are acting for themselves. Just like the carbon barons did when they lied to everyone about the impact of their products on the climate... now the ocean is on fire (literally).
Hawaiian Electric knew the last coal-fired plant would be shutdown sooner than later. Yet, they waited until the last possible minute to figure out a power alternative. Then they proposed filling a large-scale battery with electricity sourced from oil instead of renewables. In response, the Public Utilities Commission imposed conditions on the utility to operate on that proposal that would have truly helped lessen our reliance on fossil fuels and actually help the community — things like not allowing the utility to pass the higher cost of fuel for oil onto us ratepayers. Hawaiian Electric was not having it. The conditions were too far out of the corporate-first, profit-driven box and the utility couldn't handle it. Threatening rolling blackouts and increased rates, Hawaiian Electric eventually got its way and the conditions were dropped.
And this is just one example of Hawaiian Electric's hesitation. With the climate crisis worsening faster than ever, we don't have time to give in to a corporate monopoly, we need to move off of fossil fuels and secure our system to ensure the resiliency of the islands.
That's not to say that all progress is stalled, we've seen some big changes happen recently. Thanks to the Public Utilities Commission's bold leadership, property owners can now get a payment from Hawaiian Electric to install a battery in their home, to help Hawaiian Electric source renewable power for the grid during peak hours and residents can build microgrids to be used during emergency situations like hurricanes, to lessen the demand on the grid during challenging times. These innovative ideas demonstrate that solving the climate crisis is not limited to large-scale renewable energy projects constructed by outside profit-seeking corporations in rural communities, on agricultural lands, and without community consent. We need to expand on innovative, whole-community solutions that satisfy our electricity needs while also making our communities stronger
A just transition to clean energy requires trust, understanding, and community buy-in. The challenge of this moment is also the greatest opportunity we may ever have to shift the power in our energy system. The days of burdening low-income, working class, indigenous communities with impactful and harmful energy projects without their consent must end now. Creative solutions should be sought that bring justice to communities harmed by the existing system and make our energy more equitable. Let's face it, a grid powered by clean, renewable energy has different needs than a grid powered by fossil fuels. Instead of trying to fit renewable energy projects into existing infrastructure, the whole system has to be changed. We've seen Hawaiian Electric's resistance to change that does not benefit them. A top-down, profit-driven electric utility is making it harder to reach our clean energy mandates in just and equitable ways. Now's time to take back our power and build out a different energy future. There are communities throughout the islands doing just that right now, learn more about their work here.