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A group of 60 Molokai households are expected to save nearly $400 a year on their electricity bills thanks to a program that allowed them to exchange their old refrigerators for a high-efficiency model at a discounted price.
Households were able to purchase Energy Star-approved refrigerators at a cost of $250 under the Hui Up! 2013 program run by Blue Planet Foundation, Hawaii Energy and Sustainable Molokai. The new refrigerators were delivered and the old ones hauled away at no charge to program participants.
The new refrigerators are expected to cut the electric bill of each participating household by an average of $374 a year, according to a news release from Blue Planet. The residential electric rate on Molokai is about 46 cents a kilowatt hour, roughly 40 percent higher than the residential rate on Oahu.
There are plans to extend the Hui Up! 2013 program to as many as 300 households on Molokai, according to the news release.
