Hawaiian Electric Co.’s new energy plan angered solar customers, who could face higher monthly bills, but pleased non-solar customers, who might see their costs drop.

HECO’s proposal, designed to break Hawaii’s dependence on fossil fuels, includes a major investment in liquefied natural gas, which environmentalists said would only delay the state’s transition to renewable energy sources.

The electric utility submitted its 2,731-page plan to the state Public Utilities Commission late Tuesday and much of the reaction on Wednesday focused on whether the PUC would approve the proposed changes.

"This kind of proposal is dead on arrival," said Colin Yost, general counsel at RevoluSun, a Honolulu residential solar company. "This is the beginning of the process and we don’t think it will be accepted."

The ambitious plan sets a goal of generating 65 percent of HECO’s power from renewable resources by 2030, tripling the amount of solar power and cutting the average bill for most customers by 20 percent. The PUC will hold public hearings — with dates yet to be determined — and then decide whether to approve all or part of the plan.

Solar companies and customers were anxiously going through the document Wednesday to see what impact it may have on their bottom lines. Eleven percent of Oahu homes had rooftop solar systems as of June, in part because of the attractive rates HECO offered solar customers.

That would end under the terms of the new plan.

HECO proposed a $55 monthly fee for each residential customer — solar and non-solar — starting in 2017 and an additional charge of about $16 for new photovoltaic customers. To offset the $55 fee HECO would lower its charge per kilowatt-hour, which would benefit non-solar customers the most. It would also charge a connection fee to new solar customers and decrease what it pays for solar power sent into the grid from rooftop systems.

"It’s almost like, why did they get their PV system?" said Jeff Lum of Alternate Energy. "Now their base charge is almost the same as what their electric bill was (before installing solar)."

Darren Pai, a spokesman for HECO, said on average, residential customers on Oahu are paying 34 cents a kilowatt-hour, but with the addition of the $55 monthly fee, the kilowatt-hour rate would drop to about 26 cents.

Marco Mangelsdorf, president of Hilo-based ProVision Solar, said the proposed rate change by HECO is a fair suggestion.

"I think it is reasonable to have a discussion about lowering the (solar) incentive," Mangelsdorf said. "I think it is probably about time there is to be more equitable cost sharing."

HECO said the utility would continue to credit PV customers for excess energy but would do so at "fair" market rates. According to HECO, residents without solar paid about $38 million for the operation and maintenance of the grid that rooftop and PV customers were not paying.

"For existing PV customers, we think what makes sense is allowing them to be ‘grandfathered’ in under the existing program they signed up under, but possibly transitioning to a new PV rate structure at some point in the future," said Cynthia Lin Sugiyama, HECO spokesperson.

The plan would cover each of HECO’s three companies — Hawaiian Electric on Oahu, Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light Co. on Hawaii island. Some numbers in the plan differ for three different companies.

One key point in HECO’s plan is the use of LNG in its fleet of steam units. The utility proposed to be LNG-capable by 2017.

Shelee Kimura, vice president of corporate planning and business development at HECO, said the utility is depending on the "headroom" from the less expensive LNG to pay for improvements in the grid. Kimura said HECO anticipates bringing in containerized LNG in 2017 and expects to convert that to bulk in 2022.

"LNG is a really good alternative to oil for us," said Kimura, adding that LNG is not counted as a renewable energy source in terms of HECO’s goal of using 65 percent renewables by 2030.

The conversion to LNG left some concerned that it would leave the state dependent on unpredictable fossil fuels instead of moving Hawaii to developing local renewable resources.

"There is talk that LNG is a bridge fuel, but the question is, ‘Once you bring it here, are we stuck with it forever?’" said Henry Curtis, director of Life of the Land. "It’s just not clear whether LNG is the right way to go."

The cost of LNG could also rise, taking away some of the potential savings for HECO.

"HECO is really banking heavily on switching fuels to LNG," said Isaac Moriwake, an attorney at Earthjustice. "So, a lot of the cost savings depend on a roll of the dice that LNG is going to be a lot cheaper than what we have already. Under some analysis, the prices could really track the cost of what we have already. So, we are just out of the frying pan and into the fire in terms of fuel costs and our dependence on imported fuels. The customers are going to bear the risks and eat the costs."

The HECO plan did not address one key question for Hawaii’s solar industry, which is what the utility will do to help customers who have been waiting, sometimes as much as eight months, for HECO to approve their rooftop solar projects.

"My principal interest is what if anything is going to be done or implemented in changes that will allow more PV in the near term," Mangelsdorf said.

Moriwake also questioned whether HECO’s goal of tripling solar installations by 2030 was much of an improvement over the current pace.

"Nearly tripling over 16 years is about a 7 percent increase each year. That is very meager compared to the very strong growth we are seeing in the last five years," Moriwake said. "It’s far from clear whether 7 percent a year is going to sustain a vibrant solar industry and allow customers to take control of their energy future."