HELCO seeks rate increase

[Durian Fiend]

I wonder if there is a location anywhere in the US, or the world for that matter, where grid electricity rates have NOT increased in the past few years?

This seems inevitable, with the only questions being how much rates will increase and how fast it happens. Google says: "The U.S. energy inflation rate sits at 17.9% year-over-year, driven largely by global supply disruptions"

[terracore]

Most of the increase has been from increased consumption from data centers.  Here it is on a map, though it represents data from the last year which may not capture the most recent increases from the Iran nonsense:



https://www.visualcapitalist.com/mapped-...n-america/

[ironyak]

This was discussed previously here, but it's not like HECO didn't warn everyone.

https://www.hawaiianelectric.com/as-iran...ing-months
"Hawaiian Electric is forecasting that typical residential bills may rise between 20% and 30% over the next several months. Oahu customers will start seeing higher April bills, followed by Hawaii Island and Maui County customers who will see increases in May and June."

Just wait till the oil reserves run low. 50 years of oil shocks and wars and yet people somehow still act surprised...

[MyManao]

50 years of oil shocks and wars and yet people somehow still act surprised...

And use the stuff with wild abandon.. as if there's an endless supply and no consequences..

As Roger Waters said.. we're Amusing Ourselves to Death..

[Punatang]

Indeed.  The only thing that seems to slow down the gluttony is an increase in price.  We may just gain another year or two before our coastal Hawaii enclaves sink beneath the sea.  If you're a glass half full type and not just here to underpin some political narrative, and you support a major raison d'être of The 2045 General Plan, this should all be great news.  Unlike ambiguous plans with little impact on reality (see Rob's earlier comment), people actually respond very rapidly to price.  Price makes things happen.  For example, carbon taxes also cause demand destruction by increasing the price.  Price is what makes more people choose the bus, teach their kids to turn things off when they leave the room, enjoy alternatives to cooling their individual home with A/C, make the leap to solar, put a timer on the water heater, & all of the things that might give our grand kids a shot at cruising in Hawaii for a time. They will be glad we paid the price.  Life is good.



https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/ar...0910001562

https://cohplanning.konveio.com/final-re.../Row1.aspx

https://duh.vey/oy

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-48512-w

[url=https://punaweb.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=23914&pid=362565#pid362565][/url]

[Durian Fiend]

Indeed.  The only thing that seems to slow down the gluttony is an increase in price.  We may just gain another year or two before our coastal Hawaii enclaves sink beneath the sea.  If you're a glass half full type and not just here to underpin some political narrative, and you support a major raison d'être of The 2045 General Plan, this should all be great news.  Unlike ambiguous plans with little impact on reality (see Rob's earlier comment), people actually respond very rapidly to price.  Price makes things happen.  For example, carbon taxes also cause demand destruction by increasing the price.  Price is what makes more people choose the bus, teach their kids to turn things off when they leave the room, enjoy alternatives to cooling their individual home with A/C, make the leap to solar, put a timer on the water heater, & all of the things that might give our grand kids a shot at cruising in Hawaii for a time. They will be glad we paid the price.  Life is good...


[url=https://punaweb.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=23914&pid=362565#pid362565][/url]

Convenience, or a lack thereof, is also a big consideration for such things as opting for public transportation over a private car or going solar.   

Demand destruction for electricity seems to be more intractable than for gasoline. 

Rob's linked comment about "Driving to Hilo" is exactly what the general plan aims to obviate.

[ironyak]

Punatang - this should all be great news
Yeah, terracore, what are you complaining about?

It's not like having actual transition plan to reduce dependency and minimize economic shocks would be preferable (spread out the process to like 2045, let's say, based on what some akamai kids accomplished) - the best bet now is apparently to crash the global food and energy supplies via arbitrary and undefined political decisions of one very unwell old man that some Punawebbers support and whose decisions they now need to rationalize.

Dead school girls in Iran and across the board inflation is clearly what's best for Hawai'i's future - trust the (new) "plan".

[terracore]

Punatang - this should all be great news
Yeah, terracore, what are you complaining about?

It's not like having actual transition plan to reduce dependency and minimize economic shocks would be preferable (spread out the process to like 2045, let's say, based on what some akamai kids accomplished) - the best bet now is apparently to crash the global food and energy supplies via arbitrary and undefined political decisions of one very unwell old man that some Punawebbers support and whose decisions they now need to rationalize.

Dead school girls in Iran and across the board inflation is clearly what's best for Hawai'i's future - trust the (new) "plan".

I think there is a politics thread for posting rants... or whatever that was.

[Punatang]

akamai kids accomplished...


They must not have even fathomed that The Green Regime would possibly betray them, by choosing LNG over renewables for Hawaii's future electric generation needs.  Stationary combustion sources produce over 36% of our state's Greenhouse Gas Emmissions.  It's huge.

"The largest quantity of statewide GHG emissions were from Transportation sources, which made up 49.8% of Hawaii’s statewide GHG emissions. The second largest quantity of statewide GHG emissions were from Stationary Combustion sources, which made up 36.6% of Hawaii’s statewide GHG emissions."

I'm sure if our akamai keiki climate justice activists would have had any idea that their future would be sold out by their own Governor, they would have included stationary sources of emissions in their lawsuit.  Hopefully more akamai kids will lawyer up very quickly and take the next step to restrain The Green Regime's climate recklessness.  

Emergency action is needed right now.  We are out of time for suffering fools and spreadsheet shenanigans.  According to our best and brightest, we only have five years remaining and then it's lights out.  ..."global warming needs to be addressed immediately to avoid the end of human existence."  

There is obviously no time for "actual transition plans".  Sure, it's not very Marxist, and maybe it doesn't neatly fit everyone's narrative needs du jour, but price is our only hope. Take the win, for the children.


https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/regime

https://health.hawaii.gov/cab/hawaii-gre...s-program/

https://punaweb.org/forum/showthread

https://www.newsweek.com/alexandria-ocas...rt-1300873

https://punaweb.org/forum/showthread.php?tid=23367

[HiloJulie]

Yak: It's not like having actual transition plan to reduce dependency and minimize economic shocks...
...undefined political decisions of one very unwell old man that some Punawebbers support and whose decisions they now need to rationalize.
...clearly what's best for Hawai'i's future - trust the (new) "plan".

Tang: Emergency action is needed right now.

One would think that seeking private funding and investment, even from friendly foreign states in alternative energy sources for all of America would be a good thing to do, but apparently, not.

Trump administration is paying billions to abandon wind farms

Just let the Hawaii and the rest of the taxpayers now pay to prevent alternative energy investments. But at least we got them putting billions into oil! 

I am sure there is also a good rationalization in that part of the new plan too.