Question: I receive mail every month from Hawaii Energy telling me how much electricity I use compared with my neighbors. I’m bothered that they have access to my records. Is that information obtained legally? They must receive this data from Hawaiian Electric. Who is Hawaii Energy, and who are they to tell me how I rank? Are they aware of how many people live in my house? Are they aware that I have applied for solar installation but permission was held up by Hawaiian Electric?
Answer: Hawaii Energy obtains its information from Hawaiian Electric Co., Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light and says no personal information is disclosed to other customers.
It would help to know first what Hawaii Energy is.
In July 2009 the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission decided to have a third-party company run its energy efficiency/rebate program, which had been managed by HECO. The company selected was SAIC (Science Applications International Corp.), which later became Leidos Engineering LLC.
Hawaii Energy is “ratepayer-funded,” which means a surcharge on your monthly HECO bill — the “public benefit fund” — pays for the cash rebates and other incentives offered residents and businesses for installing energy-efficient equipment.
Hawaii Energy also offers education and training for residents, businesses and trade allies to encourage energy conservation and efficiency measures, said Caroline Carl, residential program manager at Hawaii Energy.
Among its programs is home energy reports, designed to promote conservation and help customers manage their monthly electricity bills, she said.
The PUC has authorized Hawaiian Electric Companies (HECO, Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light) to provide customer electric usage information from the counties of Honolulu, Hawaii and Maui. Hawaii Energy is independent of the electric utilities, Carl said.
She said households are randomly selected and do not necessarily include homes on the same street. Homes that are chosen are nearby and have similar energy needs, comparable home size and age, etc.
The electricity usage information provided to Hawaii Energy does not include the number of people in a household nor whether the household is considering a solar system, she said.
However, participants can update their energy report profile online to reflect their household’s characteristics at www.hawaiienergy.com/homeenergyreport Opens in a new tab.
Carl explained that the program does not evaluate energy savings by individual household, but rather calculates energy savings on an aggregate basis by county.
Savings calculations are provided in Hawaii Energy’s Technical Resource Manual and are published yearly in Hawaii Energy’s annual report.
The Technical Resource Manual Report for 2012 (Page 50) and the annual reports for 2012 (Page 104) and 2011 (Page 82) are online at www.hawaiienergy.com/information-reports Opens in a new tab.
The savings are consistent with similar peer group comparison programs nationwide, Carl said.
Participate or Not
Hawaii Energy selected 57,500 households to receive four reports for the year ending June 30: one report per month for the first three months and one report three months later.
The same households will continue receiving reports in the next program year, July 1 to June 30, 2015. Reports will be sent every other month for a total of six reports.
There are no plans to add more households at this time, but names can be placed on a wait list for consideration when the initiative is up for expansion or renewal, Carl said.
While households cannot opt in to participate, they can choose to opt out any time, she said.
To opt out, go to the “My Account” section at www.hawaiienergy.com/homeenergyreport Opens in a new tab or call toll-free 877-231-8222.
Anyone with questions about their reports can call Hawaii Energy at 537-5577.
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Write to “Kokua Line” at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 7 Waterfront Plaza, Suite 210, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Honolulu 96813; call 529-4773; fax 529-4750; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.
