Oahu customers will see a drop in electricity rates this month thanks to lower oil prices as October marks the lowest typical electricity bill in five months.

The bill for a typical household using 600 kilowatt-hours will be $213.91, down $5.05 from September, according to Hawaiian Electric Co., the state’s largest utility provider with service to Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island.

More than half of a household’s typical monthly electric bill pays for fuel and power purchased from independent renewable and conventional power producers, HECO spokes­man Peter Rosegg said.

Oil fell 1.2 percent in New York Wednesday to $80.84, the lowest in two years. The drop was due to slowing demand amid ample supply.

"Changes almost always reflect a change in fuel prices. That is the case for October, a welcome and meaningful reduction after months of small increases. However, even with the highest renewable energy percentage use in the nation, Hawaii is still about 80 percent dependent on imported oil for our primary generation fuel. We have little to no control over fuel prices set in world markets, primarily in Asia," Rosegg said.

The price of electricity in Hawaii is nearly three times the national average in large part because of the high cost of fuel oil used for power generation.

Isle residents paid an average of 38.42 cents a kilowatt-hour for electricity in July compared with the national average of 13.05 cents, according to the latest data available from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Hawaii mainly imports oil from Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Prices are influenced by the actions of OPEC, according to HECO.

HECO has long-term contracts with its suppliers to buy low-sulfur fuel, the oil burned in its power plants, at a set price with only about 10 percent or 20 percent of the oil purchased subject to daily market changes.

"We are paying for what we bought a month or a month and half ago," Rosegg said. "It’s a sliding impact."

The average of price for petroleum blends produced in OPEC countries fell $4.77 to $95.98 a barrel in September. OPEC pumped 30.47 million barrels a day last month and new order growth slowed to its lowest since August 2013, according to the organization’s monthly report on Oct. 10.

HECO said the volatile markets can drastically impact the utility’s prices.

"Anything that goes on there can affect the price. We have seen very much movement as a result of that," Rosegg said.

On Oahu the October rate fell to 34.2 cents per kilowatt-hour from 35 cents a kilowatt-hour in September, when the typical bill was $218.96.

HECO, its sister utilities in Hawaii and Maui counties, and the Kaua‘i Island Utility Cooperative adjust their rates monthly to reflect changes in their fuel costs and the prices they pay for electricity purchased from independent power producers.

Hawaiian Electric Cos. has more than 450,000 residential and commercial customers — 300,000 on Oahu, 70,000 on Maui and 80,000 on Hawaii island. KIUC is a member-owned cooperative that serves 33,000 customers.

Big Island residents will see a decrease in their bills in October but Maui customers’ bills will slightly increase.

Maui Electric Co. customers using 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity will pay $230.60, up from $230.46 in September.Hawai‘i Electric Light Co.’s residential rate on Hawaii island decreased to 40.3 cents a kilowatt-hour from 40.8 cents a kilowatt-hour in August. The bill for a household using 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity is $252.56, down from $255.20.

On Kauai, meanwhile, the rate this month is 40.3 cents a kilowatt-hour compared to 41.2 cents in September. The bill for a household using 600 kilowatt-hours of electricity is $241.81, down from $247.20.

Average monthly kilowatt-hour usage varies by island, but the 600 kilowatt-hour number is used for comparative purposes.