HECO plan would triple solar

Hawaiian Electric Co. wants 65 percent of its power to come from renewable sources by 2030, cut customer bills by 20 percent, convert remaining power plants to liquefied natural gas and charge customers with rooftop solar much more.

In a 2,731-page, five-part plan filed with the Public Utilities Commission late Tuesday, HECO said its goal for renewable energy is the most ambitious in the country.

"Our vision is to deliver cost-effective, clean, reliable, and innovative energy services to our customers, creating meaningful benefits for Hawaii’s economy and environment, and making Hawaii a leader in the nation’s energy transformation."

HECO plans to nearly triple the amount of solar power in the state by 2030, but increasing the cost to solar customers cast some doubt on that goal.

The plan introduced three potential changes for residents who power their homes with photovoltaic systems. The costs include a one-time interconnection fee for solar installations, a fixed monthly minimum charge of $71 for solar customers on Oahu, and a decrease in the amount the utility pays residents who send power into the grid to 17 cents a kilowatt-hour. Most current Oahu solar customers paid no interconnection fee, have a monthly bill as low as $17, and are paid more than 30 cents a kilowatt-hour for the solar they pump into the grid.

HECO said there will be a plan to gradually introduce the new costs.

According to HECO these additional charges will ensure fairness to all of the utility’s customers. Solar customers have not been paying enough of HECO’s fixed costs, the utility said.

"Some costs associated with enabling (solar) must be socialized across the companies’ rate base," the document said.

Solar company officials said the three cost increases for PV is a lot for customers to absorb.

"That’s higher than other places in the country by a lot," said Mark Duda of Distributed Energy Partners, a solar company based in Honolulu. "On its face it looks like a disincentive to engage any alternative to the utility. Time will tell whether that will be an appropriate rate."

The more equal sharing of costs between solar and non-solar customers will help HECO cut electric bills for non-solar customers by 20 percent, the company said.

Highlighted in the plan are estimated capital expenditures required to implement the utility’s proposal, which totaled approximately $194.5 million. Divided among the different utilities, total cost for Hawaiian Electric equaled $182.5 million, $6.3 million for Maui Electric, and $5.7 million for Hawaii Electric Light.

The utility also emphasized a switch from high-priced oil to lower-cost liquefied natural gas. The utility suggested the switch will accompany the use of renewables.

"Most existing oil-fired generating units will be converted to run on LNG. Older generating units will be deactivated by 2030 as new, more-efficient, quick-starting LNG fueled generators come online," HECO said in a news release.

Experts are apprehensive about the utility’s proposed timeline.

"The timeline seems aggressive," said Shasha Fesharaki, representative of Facts Global Energy. "That doesn’t mean HECO can’t have some LNG into the state by 2017, but I would be shocked if it was at the level outlined in the (report)."

Hawaii has the most expensive energy costs in the nation, in large part to its dependence on oil for most of its power generation. The state adopted the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative in 2008 with a goal of getting 40 percent of its energy from renewable source by 2030.

In 2013, 18 percent of the energy used by the HECO customers came from renewable sources, twice as much as when the Hawaii Clean Energy agreement was signed. As of June, 11 percent of HECO’s Oahu customers had rooftop solar.

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On the Net:

» The documents can be viewed at puc.hawaii.gov/news/