HECO policy blocking transition to solar

I’m a victim of Hawaiian Electric Co.’s anti-solar policies, and I’m shocked at the negligence it has displayed with little oversight or regulation.

As a professional investigator, I’ve spent thousands of hours reviewing cases against businesses accused of wrongdoing. Now, I’m spending evenings investigating a case that’s affected me and will affect all rate-payers in Hawaii who might want to install solar.

Last August, my wife and I signed a contract to install 18 solar panels on our roof. We’ve lived on the Leeward side for years and were desperate to cut our monthly $250-$300 electric bill.

The panels were installed Oct. 7. But HECO refuses to let us activate them — even though we’re forking out $305 monthly to pay off the loan. You see, on Sept. 6, HECO announced that vast sections of the grid were "saturated" and couldn’t handle more solar energy. It ordered solar companies not to install any more systems without first obtaining a net metering agreement that allows homeowners to sell the power they generate. At the time we signed our contract, a net metering agreement was the final step in a PV installation, not the first. We were blindsided.

Our contractor shares some blame: He should have reacted faster to HECO’s announcement and warned us. But he couldn’t believe HECO would force him to void contracts already signed, and immediately requested a meeting to get clarification. HECO waited a month to speak with him. I’ve also found it nearly impossible to speak to anyone at HECO. When I did finally get through, they wouldn’t answer my questions.

In November, HECO sent a form letter to some 600 customers like me who had bought PV systems before the moratorium: We’ll be grandfathered-in and eventually able to activate our systems without having to pay a penalty. But last month we got another letter: We won’t be connected until improvements to the circuit are made. HECO won’t say when. For now, we’re in limbo.

I’ve been frantically researching, trying to understand what’s going on. First I learned that HECO’S safety concerns are pretty bogus. I haven’t been able to find a single instance of "overvoltage" where power "backflowed" to a substation.

I asked the HECO representative if he could name one. I also watched state Rep. Gene Ward grill HECO’s vice president of Energy Resources & Operations, Scott Seu. In both cases, it’s clear HECO cannot cite a single case of the danger it is trumpeting.

I also learned that the manufacturers of the inverters attached to every solar panel have testified that their equipment is designed to detect the very backflow issue that concerns HECO and to stop feeding the grid within microseconds, ensuring that the system cannot be damaged the way HECO claims.

In 2010 the Public Utilities Commission "decoupled" electric rates, meaning HECO is guaranteed a profit no matter how little electricity it sells. This was designed to ensure that HECO is not forced to sell more electricity to make more money — it’s an incentive to be more efficient, for example, by investing in a modern grid that can absorb more residential rooftop solar power.

But HECO only wants to invest in its own "solar farm" projects — so it can continue to control both generation and distribution and continue to charge sky-high rates. It’s determined to preserve its century-old business model that keeps working-class ratepayers like me on the hook, while paying its bloated executives millions of dollars.

Let’s shine a light on the truth here — preferably a solar-powered one.