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STAR-ADVERTISER / 2019
Solar panels are installed on the roof of a home in Waianae.
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Hawaii’s electricity customers should be outraged with Hawaiian Electric and the Public Utilities Commission.
HECO just rolled out its new rate structures. The two-decade-old Net Energy Metering (NEM) program, closed to new enrollees since 2015, still exists for those who could afford solar panels back when the technology was relatively new. But those on post-NEM solar-based rate structures such as Smart Export, Customer Self-Supply or Grid-Supply will be forced to move to a Smart Renewable Energy program. That means the rest of us will continue to subsidize NEM participants’ share of the state’s electrical infrastructure costs.
HECO states the rate structure is designed to maintain grid reliability while helping Hawaii reach its renewable energy goals “in a fair and sustainable way.” That impartiality appears to apply to everyone except NEM customers.
Sharon Takemoto
Kailua
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