Thousands enrolled in HECO pilot that institutes different rates for peak, non-peak hours

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Hawaiian Electric says it has randomly selected 17,000 customers for a pilot program testing time-of-use rates.

Under the pilot, customers will pay less for electricity during non-peak hours.

But they’ll pay more during evening peak hours, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m.

HECO says the purpose of the program is to encourage customers to shift some of their electricity use to non-peak hours (during the day) and decrease energy consumption overall.

Customers in the program will be on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Island.

On Oahu, the rate of electricity from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. will be 19 cents per kilowatt-hour.

But from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., it will shoot to 57 cents per kilowatt-hour. And from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m., it be will 38 cents per kilowatt-hour.

During the first six months of the pilot, a bill protection credit will be in place that caps any increase for residential users to $10. Commercial bill increases will be capped at 4%.

“Time-of-use rates are a critical tool to help Hawaii reach its 100% clean energy goals,” said Leo Asuncion, chair of the Public Utilities Commission.

“By shifting energy use to the daytime when solar is abundant and cheaper, customers are directly helping lower our state’s use of fossil fuels while also potentially lowering their bills.”

The 15,000 residential and 1,700 business customers randomly enrolled in the program will be notified. And the one-year pilot, called “Shift and Save,” will kick off October 1.

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