Hawaii Revolutionizes Consumer-Utility Relationship With New Law

By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent

What Happened: Hawaii has rebalanced the relationship between utilities and their customers with a new law tying rate increases to performance data.

  • According to Hawaii Public Radio, “The Hawaii Ratepayer Protection Act will require the Public Utilities Commission, the PUC, to develop incentives for local electric companies to modernize and manage costs.’
  • The law takes effect July 1st. The PUC will then be required to create an incentive framework by January 1, 2020.

    • Hawaii

    SolarWakeup’s View:  To call Hawaii’s solar situation “complicated” would be like calling World War II a “kefuffle.” Ever since October 2015, when the PUC eliminated net metering precipitously (in the minds of many), the solar industry has struggled to re-find its identity. Hell, things in Hawaii were so bad that last year, the president of the Hawaii Solar Energy Association told an audience at Intersolar North America:

    ”I think people working in solar in Hawaii have reached the fifth stage of grief – acceptance – as many of us are looking at the impending death, for all intents and purposes, of the solar industry in the state,” he added.

    He also added that a painful (he called it “nasty, brutish and long”) transition from net-metering to three stopgap programs that have slowed residential installations to a crawl.

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    A law signed by Governor Daniel Ige, however, called the Hawaii Ratepayer Protection Act, could restart the business – at least that’s the hope of residential companies already heavily invested in the solar industry like Sunrun (emphasis added).

    “Other state Legislatures and Commissions should take notice of Hawaii’s efforts,” said Anne Hoskins, chief policy officer of Sunrun. “The time to make these changes is now, before billions of dollars are spent in rebuilding our outdated electrical networks. Rooftop solar and home batteries are allowing users to choose a system that maximizes public benefits, not utility shareholder profits. Let’s keep giving people the freedom to create a brighter future.”

    Any legislation that can help alleviate the mindless fighting between utilities and solar users is music to my ears. Let’s hope this new law can help the Aloha State return to its place as a leading residential solar state (and may this law, if it works, become a model for the rest of the country).

    More:

    Electricity Ratepayer Protection Act Signed Into Law (audio included) (HPR)