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+--- Thread: Heco raising rates again (/showthread.php?tid=2153)
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Heco raising rates again - macuu222 - 05-06-2008
Looks like another electric increase on the horizon.
http://starbulletin.com/2008/05/06/news/story02.html
We already have the highest kilowatt/hr prices on the planet. It's amazing how Hawaii has all the means to produce power other than by oil (wind, solar, geothermal, hydro) and yet we still pay through the nose.
RE: Heco raising rates again - Kapohocat - 05-06-2008
That article pertains to HECO. Is HELCO also requesting a rate hike (AGAIN!!)?
RE: Heco raising rates again - JerryCarr - 05-06-2008
quote:State utility regulations in Hawaii guarantee producers of renewable electricity the same price as oil-based production. This is supposedly to provide incentives to get people to invest in alternative energy sources, but has the effect of guaranteeing consumers no rate relief even if it only costs half as much to produce. There is even a case (on Maui, I believe) where the HECO affiliate is balking at accepting the output from a new windfarm, citing lack of need for the capacity and lack of desire to make the changes to the grid necessary to accept it.
Originally posted by macuu222
Looks like another electric increase on the horizon.
http://starbulletin.com/2008/05/06/news/story02.html
We already have the highest kilowatt/hr prices on the planet. It's amazing how Hawaii has all the means to produce power other than by oil (wind, solar, geothermal, hydro) and yet we still pay through the nose.
Obviously something needs to be done, such as guaranteeing alternative energy producers a decent margin over their documented costs. This is basically the same deal the HECO affiliates now get. I think state law guarantees HECO a profit no matter how badly they manage their business or how much they discourage competition.
Cheers,
Jerry
RE: Heco raising rates again - Hotzcatz - 05-06-2008
HELCO is a subsidiary of HECO so when one goes up one would expect the other to go up as well.
You don't have to pay through the nose, you can entirely relocate your nose outside of their domain. Here's a couple of interesting websites which may help you do that:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Ted-Baer_s-Bicycle-Wheel-Windmill/
http://www.otherpower.com/otherpower_experiments.html
It is stone easy to set up an alternate power system these days. Your house wiring stays the same, replace all light bulbs with those compact fluorescent ones and if you have an electric stove, water heater or dryer replace it with gas. Get an inverter (Outback makes really nice ones), a battery bank and then some way to charge the batteries. Solar, wind, hydro or a combination of several of them. Unplug from HELCO and invest in HECO for the dividends.
RE: Heco raising rates again - gtill - 05-06-2008
I understand that PGV is talking about possibly expanding their plant, considering it has the capacity to cover the whole island! But why go through what will be an uphill fight for them, when as pointed out the rates will stay the same! Only reliability will improve as geothermal is the only reliable link in the whole power chain! Next step, PGV will sell the plant to a brokerage fund, who won't take any crap from the CC, HELCO or anyone else! We'll get the windfall mabe, but not a cent more, ever!
Any enterprise tied to oil price right now is sitting fat! It makes me understand how a PHD in economics wants to get in on the party! Good economist thinking, right down to kill any competition (trash incinerator) to plenty of slightly polluted compost which won't be good on any food crops, or even public areas, but will work great on fuel crops (just vaccinate the workers)!
Where I like solar, used properly, Wood Gas is the way to go! It's being more and more recognized as a functional fuel, and done right is very clean burning! We're the most expensive in the country, yet we have all the resourses imaginable for virtually free power! Leadership Mabe?
RE: Heco raising rates again - JayJay - 05-06-2008
A quick call to Helco has produced this figure per KWH consumption ... 40 cents per kilowatt hour ...
I know some people are in the dark about what this really means but here it is in a nutshell.
If you were to wire up 10-100 watt light bulbs on the same circuit and turn them on you would be consuming one kilo watt each hour and that would cost 40 cents.
What does that mean in the real world?
Let's say a typical air conditioner consumes 1500 watts ... so if you run that machine for one hour it will have cost you 60 cents!!
JayJay
RE: Heco raising rates again - Kapohocat - 05-06-2008
quote:
Originally posted by Hotzcatz
HELCO is a subsidiary of HECO so when one goes up one would expect the other to go up as well...
...Unplug from HELCO and invest in HECO for the dividends.
I found out that their rates are approved separetely - as are MECO's. Does that make them on Kauai KECO? Just kidding - its HECO for Kauai too.
Hawaii electric Light Industries http://www.hei.com/ is who stocks are issued for - and surprise surprise it went up today.
RE: Heco raising rates again - loffelkopffl - 05-06-2008
oil closing at $121/barrel today
mission accomplished!!
RE: Heco raising rates again - Hotzcatz - 05-07-2008
I think Kauai is separate from HECO, but I'm not 100% certain of that. Kauai is pretty isolationist even from the other islands so it wouldn't be surprising they aren't part of the same electric consortium.
RE: Heco raising rates again - gtill - 05-08-2008
Kauai is now a co-op, It was a public owned outfit, but in 2000, the Fed loaned Kauai county 200M to buyout the original Citizens power comoany!
The reason they all(Inouye,Kauai mayor etc) gave was any monopoly business who would tie their charges to the price of oil was detrimental to the Island! In 2000, their complaint was about .20cents per KWH which was attrocious! A for profit company should not be in charge of the electric supply!(at least on Kauai)!