Lower fuel prices to bring down Hawaiian Electric bills

Hawaiian Electric said today that Oahu customers will see a smaller increase on their electric bills than initially forecast while those on Hawaii island, Maui, Lanai and Molokai will see lower rates in September that reflect the first significant drop in oil prices since spring.

Oahu customers’ electric bills, which will be affected by Thursday’s shutdown of the AES coal-fired power plant, will see their costs go up by 4%, or $9 a month, instead of 7%, or $15 a month, as was initially forecast. Commercial customers will see kilowatt-hour rates up about 2 cents, lower than the 3 cents forecast.

Hawaiian Electric said the impact for a typical residential bill for electricity used in September will be included in bills most customers receive in October.

On other islands, Hawaii island’s monthly bill will go down 6%, or about $16; Maui’s monthly bill will drop 5%, or about $11; Molokai’s monthly bill will decline 14%, or about $34; and Lanai’s monthly bill will be down 9%, or about $22.

Oahu’s rates are the result of lower oil prices and the addition of the Clearway Mililani I 39-megawatt solar project to the grid. Its contracted price of 9 cents per kilowatt-hour is less than a third of the cost of oil used for power generation.

Even with the lower rates, typical bills on all islands are still higher than in March before oil prices began to surge.

Hawaiian Electric continues to offer options to help customers manage their energy bill. Go to hawaiianelectric.com/paymentarrangement to review payment plan options. For information on available financial assistance, go to hawaiianelectric.com/COVID19.