Expanded Time-of-Use Rates Proposed by Hawaiian Electric

Hawaiian Electric Light Companies have proposed new voluntary time-of-use rate options for residential customers.

The announcement follows last week’s proposal to lower daytime rates for the Hawai’i Department of Education.

Hawaiian Electric, Hawai’i Electric, and Maui Electric’s proposal would encourage the use of power during times when solar and wind resources are most productive, according to company officials.

Time-of-use rates for electric vehicle charging have also been proposed.

“We want to give our customers options to help them manage their bills and encourage the use of more low cost renewable energy,” said Jim Alberts, Hawaiian Electric senior vice president of customer service. “Rate options like these can give customers choices and help us collectively achieve our state’s 100 percent renewable portfolio standards goal.”

Customers using energy during the middle of the day, between 12 p.m. and 4 p.m., would benefit the most from the proposed time-of-use rates, followed by energy usage after midnight.

If the time-of-use rates were in effect today, Hawaiian Electric reports the following rates would be in effect on the Big Island: Mid-day, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. (17.2 cents/kWh); Off-Peak, 12 a.m. to 9 a.m. (19.3 cents/kWh); and On-Peak, 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. (47.9 cents/kWh). These numbers are compared to the non-time-of-use residential rates of 30.3 cents/kWh.

Hawaiian Electric is also proposing to revise existing time-of-use rates for electric vehicles. The revisions include a revised “whole house” rate, which would include EV charging along with the rest of the household’s use of energy, and a revised rate for customers who have a separate electric meter used only for charging electric vehicles.

Under both proposed revisions, EV time-of-use proposes a mid-day period of 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., on-peak period from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m., and an off-peak period of 9 p.m. to 9 a.m. daily.

Both the residential and EV time-of-use proposals were submitted as part of the Hawai’i Public Utilities Commission’s ongoing review of distributed energy resources programs.

Prior to being offered to customers, both proposals must be reviewed and approved by the PUC, with input from the Hawai’i Division of Consumer Advocacy and other parties in the distributed energy resources proceedings.

“This is another step toward offering customers more choices. As we move ahead, we want to ensure these programs can be successful and benefit all customers. So we will monitor these programs closely to determine if any adjustments are needed over time,” Alberts said.