Big Island Residents’ Electric Rates Lowered

Big Island residents who use the Hawai‘i Electric Light Company will see their bills decrease as the result of a rate adjustment approved by the Public Utilities Commission.

Under the rate adjustment proposed by the company, the typical Hawai‘i Island residential bill for a customer using 500 kilowatt hours will drop by about $5.22 a month, effective Tuesday, May 1, 2018.

On Tuesday, March 27, Hawai‘i Electric Light submitted a rate adjustment proposal that would lower the typical bill for Hawai‘i Island customers by $4.97 a month.

On Tuesday, April 10, the company filed revised calculations which increased customer savings to $5.22 a month.

Changes in federal tax law reduced the corporate tax bill of Hawai‘i Electric Light and the company announced in January it planned to pass on the savings to customers.

The company made similar rate reductions in 1987 and 1989 following changes to federal tax law.