Many lack knowledge or opinion of NextEra deal, poll finds

A new survey suggests that most residents served by Hawaiian Electric Industries utilities don’t care or know about the bid by Florida-based NextEra Energy Inc. to buy HEI and become the biggest power provider in the state.

The poll of 404 adults on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island found that only 19 percent of respondents support the acquisition. Another 28 percent oppose the deal. Most people, though, either don’t have an opinion (34 percent) or don’t know (20 percent).

The results were considerably less responsive compared with a statewide poll on the same topic in January.

January’s poll, conducted by Ward Research for the Hono­lulu Star-Advertiser and Hawaii News Now, found that 34 percent of Hawaii residents viewed the HEI takeover as good while 43 percent saw it as not good. Some 23 percent were undecided on the issue.

The new survey was commissioned by rooftop solar industry trade group Alliance for Solar Choice and conducted online by Hono­lulu-based polling firm SMS.

Solar Choice, whose members include Demeter Power, Silevo, SolarCity, Solar Universe, Sunrun, Verengo and ZEP Solar, has previously criticized NextEra as being unfriendly toward rooftop solar power. The group restated its view in a news release announcing the poll results Tuesday.

"NextEra’s preference for big utility projects that they can own and profit from doesn’t resonate with Hawaii residents," Robert Harris, a Solar Choice spokes­man, said in a statement. "NextEra must prove to Hawaii residents that it’ll support rooftop solar. Mere lip service isn’t going to cut it."

Rob Gould, a NextEra spokes­man, fired back at what he called a mouthpiece largely for big mainland solar companies whose business models depend upon high electricity prices to encourage customers to install rooftop solar systems.

Gould called the survey slanted, political-style polling structured to create the impression that the group’s self-serving business strategies are aligned with the public interest.

"For every rooftop solar system these corporations install in Hawaii, they pocket thousands of dollars for their shareholders," he said.

NextEra has laid out some of its vision for Hawaii that includes a pledge to reduce electricity rates and put more effort into large-scale solar projects that the company argues are more economical than a saturation of homeowner solar systems.

The company is the nation’s largest generator of solar and wind power, yet few NextEra customers in Florida — about 2,600 of 4.7 million — have rooftop solar. Instead, 70 percent of Florida’s electricity comes from natural gas.

In Hawaii, 54,000 of HEI’s 450,000 customers have rooftop solar, due in part to much higher electrical rates that are tied to oil and make rooftop solar economically attractive for residential customers.

HEI, which has subsidiaries on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii island, has struggled with consumer demand for rooftop solar that is 20 times the national average.

In late 2013 the company started requiring homeowners to get its approval before connecting rooftop solar systems to the grid. The policy, which HEI said was implemented out of concern the grid could be overloaded, created a backlog for thousands of customers and led to criticism that HEI was trying to protect profits by keeping more residents dependent on higher-priced power.

Recently the backlog has been eased after the utility relaxed restrictions. Still, criticism from the solar industry and many customers remains.

According to the poll, 76 percent of HEI customers believe the utility has slowed rooftop solar installations to protect profits. Another 12 percent disagreed with that statement, while 13 percent said they didn’t know.

This question was on a similar poll produced by SMS and Solar Choice last year before the NextEra-HEI deal was announced in December, and received about the same response.

HEI regularly refutes this claim, stating that rooftop solar systems don’t reduce company revenue or profit because it can increase rates to offset drops in utility-generated power use.

Jim Alberts, HEI senior vice president for customer service, said the company is working toward a goal of 100 percent renewable energy for Hawaii that includes more rooftop solar and NextEra.

One area where HEI dropped in the poll between last year and this year is the share of customers with a negative opinion of its utility subsidiaries, though the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 5 percentage points.

This year’s poll found that 52 percent had an unfavorable opinion of HEI utilities, up from 46 percent last year. Those who held a favorable view slipped to 46 percent from 49 percent. The rest said they didn’t know enough to have an opinion.

A lack of understanding or opinion on the NextEra-HEI deal comes amid much media coverage and TV advertising by the companies trying to gain support for the acquisition.

Earlier this month HEI failed to motivate enough shareholders to cast votes needed to decide whether to proceed with the $4.3 billion sale.

Under Hawaii law, HEI needs owners of 75 percent of all outstanding shares to vote for the sale. But only 78 percent of shares were initially voted — 70 percent in favor and 8 percent against.

A voting deadline was extended to June 10, and a new campaign to elicit more participation is underway.

NextEra and HEI also are running joint TV ads that tout the takeover as the best way to lower electricity costs in Hawaii. The ads say Next­Era supports HEI’s goal of tripling rooftop solar, though Solar Choice remains critical.

"NextEra is spending bushels of money to convince people to support its takeover attempt," Harris said. "These efforts don’t appear to be working, as only a mere 1 in 4 people support NextEra’s takeover bid."

If shareholder approval is obtained, allowing the sale still will be up to the state Public Utilities Commission. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the sale in March.