Four months in, Clint Churchill and John S.S. Kim want to scrap an innovative pilot energy rate program because it doesn’t work for them (“Axe HECO’s unfair ‘Shift and Save’ plan,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, June 5). The point of the pilot is to gather actual user data over time to see how it works for different customers, not just those fortunate enough to have rooftop solar.
Despite the authors’ implication, Shift and Save isn’t some random rate scheme created by Hawaiian Electric. It was developed over three years with the Public Utilities Commission, the consumer advocate, the Hawaii Solar Energy Association, the Hawaii PV Coalition and others.
The authors raise issues of equity for working families and that’s an important point, especially when it comes to the “haves” with rooftop solar and the “have nots” without it. While the authors claim net energy metering customers without batteries are the biggest losers under Shift and Save, they neglect to mention these same customers are the biggest winners under standard rates, receiving full retail compensation for all exported energy, a compensation premium paid by all other customers.
If customers in the pilot don’t like it, they can opt out.
Jim Kelly
Vice president, Hawaiian Electric
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