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The state Public Utilities Commission, in an order made public Monday, decided not to move forward with plans that would have allowed a wide range of customers to pay back loans for renewable-energy projects through their electrical bills, and directed Hawaiian Electric Co. and the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority to create another on-bill repayment option for low-income residents looking to install solar.
The commission decided not to pursue the broader on-bill financing program — which would have helped residents pay back investments in solar-powered hot water, energy efficiency upgrades and rooftop solar panels — because the agency could not find a finance administrator for it, had difficulty securing private investors and could not prove it would provide enough savings when electricity rates dropped 35 percent after the PUC proposed the program.The on-bill financing program had been discussed by the PUC since 2011 and was never put into place.
Also Monday the PUC directed HECO and the state to develop an on-bill repayment mechanism for the low-income Green Energy Market Securitization, or GEMS, program.
Correction: The state Public Utilities Commission directed the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority and Hawaiian Electric Co. to develop an on-bill payment mechanism for the Green Energy Market Securitization program —a low-interest loan program created by the state to help Hawaii nonprofit organizations, homeowners and renters pay for solar systems. A previous version of this story listed the wrong state agency.
