The Hawaiʻi Public Utilities Commission stepped up to keep everyone’s lights on 💡. On March 10, the PUC extended the mandatory utility shutoff moratorium through May 2021.
Thank you to everyone who signed our petition and shared your voice. We commend the PUC for their action, however, shutoff moratoriums without bill forgiveness will only go so far to help our communities. We are calling on Hawaiian Electric to offer bill forgiveness to its customers in need. Scroll down to learn more.
Taking Back Our Power
Our Communities Need Bill Forgiveness During COVID-19
Thousands of friends, family and neighbors have been furloughed or laid off due to the coronavirus pandemic, with unemployment percentages fluctuating with each Stay at Home Order, and an unknown economic future ahead. This means that many of us are left to chose what essential monthly expenses we can cover each month.
The Public Utilities Commission has relieved the immediate burden on our communities by requiring all utilities (including electricity, water and waste management) to hold off on any disconnections for customers who cannot pay their bills. But this also means that the unpaid bills will be due at some point—upwards of nine months of bills. The average electricity bill in Hawaiʻi is $200, so that means some customers could owe Hawaiian Electric alone, $2400.
Hawaiian Electric is currently offering payment plans and referring its customers to payment assistance programs, but these plans are not accessible to most and come with their own obstacles and stacks of documentation and paperwork.
Hawaiian Electric’s payment plans require in-full, on-time payments of current bills on top of an installment of unpaid bills. This means that if you are still unemployed after the moratoriums end and/or you struggled to pay your bills prior to the pandemic, getting “assistance” from Hawaiian Electric is nearly impossible.
Meanwhile, while most were struggling, Hawaiian Electric earned $169.3 million in 2020—more than any year prior. Hawaiian Electric has the means to help its customers directly. And that is exactly why we are calling on this corporation to implement bill forgiveness measures for our friends, family and neighbors that have lost any income due to COVID-19.
We urge you to take action and join us as we demand Hawaiʻi’s primary electric utility do what is right for our community and offer bill forgiveness.
But it is not just the COVID-19 crisis that is making it hard to pay our electricity bills, there are several factors outside of this current crisis that have led to extremely high energy costs and entrenched energy burden. This pandemic has only exacerbated the economic hardships and underlying problems of poverty and inequality in our islands. Scroll down to learn more.
How We Got Here: Hawaiian Electric On A Power Trip
Hawaiʻi does not just pay the most for electricity in the United States, our electricity rates are 214.31% greater than the national average.
Now during COVID-19, our home electricity bills are probably higher than they were before. The bottom line is that we are home more—working, distance learning, cooking and just occupying our spaces more than ever before. This obviously leads to higher energy bills. But one thing that is important to note is that commercial energy rates are cheaper than residential rates—which makes sense in a “normal” situation: commercial buildings and spaces use more electricity so even at a lower rate they end up paying more in the end. But now, we aren’t in our offices and schools, so we are using our residential electricity to do “commercial” activities we wouldn’t typically do at home. If you are working from home full time, consider asking your employer if they have a telework benefits, like a work from home stipend that can be used towards your utility bills or supplies.
However, outside of COVID-19 there are fundamental yet problematic reasons that our electricity bills are the most expensive bills in the nation.
On one level, our electricity rates are so high because of the price of oil (and the importing of oil…on ships that use more fossil fuels to bring the oil here), which is Hawaiʻi's main source of energy, and the fixed costs of power plants and maintaining the grid infrastructure.
The bigger problem is that Hawaiian Electric passes on oil price increases to rate payers, to ensure the company does not lose money no matter how much the price of oil is. This "Energy Cost Recovery Clause" on paper works both ways—with price increases and decreases—but in all actuality, customers hardly see savings when oil prices drop (such as now during COVID-19 when oil prices are extremely low). And to make matters worse, customers could face rate increases very soon because there is so little demand for oil, Hawaiʻi’s primary oil refinery is struggling and is shutting down some of its facilities, meaning that Hawaiʻi must now ship in refined oil which is extremely expensive and costs more for Hawaiian Electric.
On another level, our electricity rates are high because they are managed by a for-profit corporate monopoly. Our electric utility, Hawaiian Electric, supplies electricity to 95% of Hawaiʻi's population and controls the entire grid. In many cases, the different parts of the grid, including generation, transmission and distribution are owned and maintained by separate entities. But not in Hawaiʻi—Hawaiian Electric owns and profits off of the entire grid and providing an essential service.
Renewables Can Save Us
If done well, renewable energy sources have the potential to lower our electricity rates and provide a cleaner environment. But we will need more than just large scale solar, which is what our monopolized utility is focused on now. While Hawaiian Electric has made progress toward Hawaiʻi's 100% renewable energy goals, it has dragged its feet in places that could be directly benefiting our communities during these difficult economic times. Microgrids and residential rooftop solar is needed if we are going to reach 100% renewable affordable energy. But not everyone has access to a roof, right?
Hawaiʻi's high cost of living and low minimum wage means that almost half of Hawaiʻi's residents live in rental units—studios, rooms in larger units, apartments and houses. This majority of Hawaiʻi's population has no control over their energy sources or the implementation of energy savings measures like solar water heaters and energy efficient appliances. There are solutions to provide affordable renewable energy to tenants and apartment buildings but Hawaiʻi's utility and permitting process are holding us back...again. Honolulu County is working on streamlining its solar permitting process but progress is slow.
Now is the time to move away from this monopoly top-down business strategy—building big fossil-fuel plants and passing the costs onto consumers—that Hawaiian Electric currently operates. This strategy has landed us with the most expensive electricity rates and knee deep in the climate crisis. It is also holding us back from moving quickly to 100% renewable energy. Its only up from here, right?
People Power: The Vision
First and foremost we need to ensure that our energy generation is safe for our communities and our environment. Energy should not come at the cost of public or natural health. This means shutting down our dirty energy sources, like the coal plant in West Oʻahu and weaning off of oil—both come at the expense of the wellness of our neighbors and climate. As we transition to clean energy, we must work alongside communities in the development of renewable energy projects and encourage microgrids and other small scale community energy projects instead of large scale windfarms or solarfarms.
Then, we need to move away from the monopoly towards a public power utility, which would ultimately improve accountability and reduce rates. Public utilities are community-owned, not-for-profit electric utilities that provide reliable, affordable electricity that is safe for our neighbors and environment. Public utilities are part of the community and employ the community—diversifying our workforce and providing stable jobs closer to home. Small scale community solar provide the opportunity to those that do not have access to roofs—like renters or apartment dwellers—to have access to affordable clean energy.
At the very least, we need to decouple our utility and energy infrastructure. We need a mechanism like an independent system operator that oversees the grid, supplying energy loads based on real-time usage would ensure equal access, optimized costs for the ratepayers and fair competition.
In 2018, Hawaiʻi passed the Hawaiʻi Ratepayer Protection Act into law which establishes incentives for the electric utility to provide cheaper, renewable energy to its customers. As a for-profit corporation, Hawaiian Electric is beholden to its shareholders, not its ratepayers which has contributed to the extremely high rates that residents pay. This Ratepayer Protection Act is a step towards holding the utility accountable for providing affordable, clean energy to our community. The act is currently in front of the Public Utilities Commission for implementation and has yet to come into fruition.
The bottom line is that energy sources are a public trust resource in Hawaiʻi, just like our streams, land, water and air—and they should be cared for one and the same. Energy as a basic life necessity should not be controlled by a single corporation. Gone are the days of top-down fossil fuel wholesale energy systems—now is the time to take back our power for a brighter energy future.