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HONOLULU (AP) - Hawaiian Electric Co. is proposing an increase to the minimum monthly bill for new rooftop solar owners on all islands.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that in a Monday filing with the Public Utilities Commission the company proposed a hike to $25. The current minimum bill for residential customers is $17 on Oahu, $18 on Maui and $20.50 on Hawaii island.
HECO also proposed to credit new solar customers on Oahu at a rate of 18 cents per kilowatt-hour for all solar energy sent to the grid. Currently solar customers are credited at the retail rate for electricity, which averaged 35 cents on Oahu in 2014.
Any new minimum fees would not affect current solar customers.
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Seems like you can already feel the positive effects of the "merger".
Anytime 2 large corporations merge somebody has to pay for all the paperwork and managerial bonuses and it sure won't be the stockholders.
Last month HELCO included an insert with their bill high-fiving themselves for all the renewable energy they use including the 12% of HELCO customers who are tied to the grid and generate power for the almighty corporation. It's really quite a good deal: the customers are in charge of all the solar infrastructure investment and suffer any losses due to lightning, hurricanes, etc, and the corporation reaps the benefit of all the clean free energy they get in return for the customers being charged to attach to the grid.
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quote:
It's really quite a good deal: the customers are in charge of all the solar infrastructure investment and suffer any losses due to lightning, hurricanes, etc, and the corporation reaps the benefit of all the clean free energy they get in return for the customers being charged to attach to the grid.
Just playing devil's advocate here for discussion sake, if this is such a concern for you, why don't you disconnect from the grid and just use your solar? There are two perspectives on this issue. From the power companies point of view, they are struggling to maintain the stability of a power grid that is ever changing as new customers connect new green sources of electricity - something the grid was never designed to handle. From the perspective of the solar producing customer, there is this antiquated money grubbing corporation getting in the way of me doing my fine work to better the planet.
At the end of the day, it seems to me that by connecting to the grid you are entering into a contract that serves each side by an agreed to set of terms. Ultimately, it's up to you what you choose to do. [
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money grubbing corporation...
Question; Doesn't the Public Utilities Commission (read: Government) have to approve HELCO's new rate scheme? Thought so. Makes you think, doesn't it?
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Why should HELCO be forced to pay people with solar, who generate excess electricity, retail cost and not wholesale? By paying them retail rates, it causes the cost of electricity to go UP for the rest of the customers.
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I generate more power than I use. Helco does not pay me the difference.
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The power that is produced by rooftop solar is not of the same quality that HELCO produces. If you cut the connection to the panel-mounted inverters, they stop producing power. They need to "see" the grid's power wave so they know what to do. Another facet of this is that as the ratio of solar power to grid power goes up the system becomes less stable since it is the grid power that is defining the sine wave of the system. Imagine a truck towing a trailer. Big truck with a small trailer, truck hardly knows the trailer is there. That's how it used to be. As the trailer approaches the weight of the truck maintaining stability becomes a real factor. There must be a practical limit. A ford F250 weighs about 6,000 lbs and can tow under ideal conditions 15,000 lbs, a ratio of about 2 1/2 to 1.
I was speaking with a HELCO shift supervisor the other day. Factoring in existing grid tied solar and applications for new solar connections that HELCO will have to accommodate, there is something like 90 mw of potential unstable solar out there that might flood their system on a clear sunny day. Traditionally, the peak load for the whole Big Island on any given day is in the mid 90's of mws. So back to the truck/trailer analogy. That 6,000 lb truck that can only keep 15,000 lb of trailer under control will soon be expected to successfully steer 90,000 lb of trailer.
If you were in HELCO's place you wouldn't want to pay people to do this to you either.
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quote:
Originally posted by flyingsurfer
I generate more power than I use. Helco does not pay me the difference.
Technically,you are correct in that they do not pay you, but you would receive credits up to the amount of your use of grid power.
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4.50 added to the bill on big island really isn't all that big of a deal. But, to me, they are just testing the waters. See if anyone or group challenges it.
NO? Then next year will be another 10-15... and year after pretty soon you got a 50 dollar bill to look at the wire connected into the house.
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You can currently buy a rechargeable battery that fits in your pocket capable of jump starting your car as well as powering/charging all your portable devices.
Battery tech is evolving at nearly exponential rates. If you have solar, soon the grid will be obsolete.
Imagine what the grid tie fees will be when people are leaving the grid in droves and there is a decreasing grid population base to pay for it's maintenance. The people who can afford to leave will go, leaving only the poor who will never be able to pay to maintain 19th century technology. Helco's greed has already unleashed its own destruction.
