PUC Commissioner Applies for Rooftop Solar Days Before PUC Cut the Credits
Hawaii Public Utilities Commission member Lorraine Akiba took advantage of the higher credit just days before the PUC created a new program with lower rates.
Hawaii Public Utilities Commissioner Lorraine Akiba submitted an application to install a $10,000 photovoltaic system聽a week聽before the PUC issued an order that slashed the credit that customers can receive for electricity they produce from solar panels on their rooftops, records show.
The order capped Hawaiian Electric鈥檚 popular net energy metering program, which has been used by more than 50,000 residents on Oahu, Maui and Big Island. The order grandfathered in anyone who had already installed a PV system under the program or has applied to do so, but changed the rules for new customers.
Starting Oct. 13, customers who want to take advantage of solar energy at home have three options: grid-supply, self-supply and time-of-use tariff.
The grid-supply option is similar to net energy metering, except it offers a significantly lower credit for the excess energy customers produce from their home PV systems and export to the grid.
Instead of the full retail rate of roughly 30 cents per kilowatt-hour, HECO customers will be credited 15.07 cents per kwh; Hawaii Electric and Light customers will get a rate of 15.14 cents per kwh; and Maui Electric Co. customers will get 17.16 cents per kwh on Maui, 24.07 cents per kwh on Molokai, and 27.88 cents per kwh on Lanai.
Akiba applied Oct. 6 with the Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting to have install a new PV system at a home in Nuuanu.
In 2010, she had a $23,000 solar system installed at the same address, city records show.
Akiba could not be reached for comment Tuesday morning.
