Hawaiian Electric proposes plan to equip residents, businesses in wildfire-prone areas with backup power

A new Hawaiian Electric rebate proposal aims to aid households and businesses in wildfire risk areas that are subject to preemptive power shutoffs.

The Backup Power Rebate Program, designed to serve low- to moderate-income households and customers with special medical needs, would provide eligible residential customers a rebate of up to $500 for the purchase of a portable generator and up to $1,000 for the purchase of a portable battery.

For qualified residential customers, the program would be limited to home addresses that fall within areas subject to Hawaiian Electric’s Public Safety Power Shutoff on Maui, Molokaʻi, Hawaiʻi Island, and Oʻahu, which were designated based on wildfire history, vegetation dryness, wind exposure, and evacuation challenges.

The Public Safety Power Shutoff program enables the company to proactively shut off electricity in high-risk areas during extreme conditions to prevent electrical equipment from igniting wildfires. Shutoffs are only implemented when there is severe fire danger and other preventive measures are deemed insufficient.

The primary goal of the rebate program is to provide low- to moderate-income households and customers with special medical needs with the minimum power required to keep essential household appliances such as a refrigerator and medical equipment running during outages.

“We are sensitive to the fact that customers affected by Public Safety Power Shutoff events may experience extended power outages,” said Brendan Bailey, Hawaiian Electric vice president of customer service. “We want to make sure that vulnerable populations have access to backup power as the company works to reduce wildfire risks and keep customers safe.”

Commercial customers in all areas served by Hawaiian Electric would be eligible for a rebate of $400 per kilowatt for the purchase of a generator or battery, with prioritization given to those located in Public Safety Power Shutoff areas.

For commercial customers, the program would not only help strengthen their own resilience but the electric grid as a whole. Backup generators at commercial locations could be used to support resilience hubs within communities, which is a key part of Hawaiian Electric’s wildfire safety strategy. Businesses could be called upon to use their generators to help offset load on the system if an island encounters a generation shortfall.

The two-year pilot program, submitted for regulatory review, would authorize rebates totaling $3 million per year on the five islands served by Hawaiian Electric. When fully subscribed, the program is expected to serve about 4,800 residential customers and support commercial resilience hub development.

The funding would be allocated in an amount roughly proportional to the number of customers on each island that are in designated Public Safety Power Shutoff zones. Accordingly, about half of the funding would be allocated to customers in Maui County, with 40% going to customers on Hawaiʻi Island and 10% to customers on Oʻahu.

After two years, Hawaiian Electric would review the program’s performance and seek feedback on whether to extend it.

To qualify for the program, residential customers would have to either prove low- to moderate-income status using the same process as Hawaiian Electric’s Bring Your Own Device Plus program for self-certification or registration with the company’s Special Medical Needs registry.

Hawaiian Electric is seeking approval from the Public Utilities Commission to recover the cost of the program from customers. The company estimates that the average monthly bill impact for a residential customer using 500 kilowatt-hours would be $1.64 on Maui, $1.10 on Hawaiʻi Island, and $0.08 on Oʻahu. For customers on Molokaʻi and Lānaʻi using 400 kilowatt-hours per month, the estimated bill impact would be $1.31.