Plant maintenance raises HECO rates

By Alan Yonan Jr.

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Mar 19, 2013

~~<p>Oahu's residential electricity rates were higher in February and March largely because a coal-fired plant that provides the island's cheapest source of power was down for maintenance, Hawaiian Electric Co. officials said Monday.</p>
<p>The 180-megawatt plant operated by independent power producer AES Corp. has the capacity to provide about 15 percent of the island's peak electricity demand. The cost to produce electricity at the AES plant is about 9 cents a kilowatt-hour versus about 21 cents a kilowatt-hour for power produced by the oil-burning plants that provide the bulk of HECO's electricity generation, according to a presentation HECO officials made to state legislators in January.</p>
~~

Oahu's residential electricity rates were higher in February and March largely because a coal-fired plant that provides the island's cheapest source of power was down for maintenance, Hawaiian Electric Co. officials said Monday.

The 180-megawatt plant operated by independent power producer AES Corp. has the capacity to provide about 15 percent of the island's peak electricity demand. The cost to produce electricity at the AES plant is about 9 cents a kilowatt-hour versus about 21 cents a kilowatt-hour for power produced by the oil-burning plants that provide the bulk of HECO's electricity generation, according to a presentation HECO officials made to state legislators in January. Login for more...