Hawaiian Electric Co. is seeking regulatory approval for a program designed to help customers tackle their soaring electric bills by paying the upfront cost for the installation of a solar water heater.

Under the proposed Simply Solar program qualified residental customers on Oahu, Hawaii island and in Maui County would pay back HECO with the savings resulting from their reduced power bills.
HECO is submitted a request to the Public Utilities Commission to have the program approved.

In most households water heating is the largest single item on a utility bill. By switching to solar water heating a household can reduce its monthly electricity consumption by 25 percent to  35 percent, according to HECO.