Politics

Green Advocacy Group Works With Corporation To Increase Energy Prices

(Screen Capture/PBS NewsHour)

A green energy group partnered with a Hawaiian electric company on a proposal to increase energy rates despite previous criticisms of the same idea.

The Ulupono Initiative and Hawaiian Electric Co.’s (HECO) joint filing asked the utility commission for a 5% rate increase in O’ahu over two years, 5.8% in Hawai’i Island and 6.4% for Maui County, which could lead to at least an $11 increase to a household’s monthly bill, according to reporting by Honolulu Civil Beat. HECO provides electricity for 95% of all residents on the Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Hawaii islands of Hawaii, according to their website.

The new fee will finance infrastructure that can withstand wildfires and is designed to cover increased business costs associated with the measures, the Civil Beat reported.

The Ulupono Initiative criticized the proposal in 2025, saying “this decision returns Hawaiian Electric customers to an outdated, costly, time-consuming, and potentially counterproductive process.”

Ulupono Initiative Director of Energy Michael Colón said HECO’s original proposal was not in line with the performance-based rate-making law, according to Civil Beat. Colón added that, after multiple meetings between Ulupono and other stakeholders, HECO modified the proposal to a performance-based rate-making approach in line with what Ulupono fought for.

Colón said Ulupono understands rate increases will cause more stress on residents and businesses, but if HECO did not compromise on the proposal, the implemented rates would have been much higher, according to Civil Beat.

Hawaii residents already pay the highest electricity rates in the United States. The national average consumer paid 17 cents per kilowatt hour in December 2025, while an average Hawaiian resident paid 41 cents per kilowatt hour, according to the US Energy Information Administration.

The joint proposal argued the rate increases are in line with Hawaii’s 2020 Performance Based Regulation (PBR) framework that governs Hawaiian Electric Companies. The proposal stated the framework allowed energy companies to provide over $100 million in revenue reduction to offset other costs in the first multi-year rate period for cost control established by the PBR.

The current multi-year rate period is set to expire mid-2026, allowing for rate rebasing before 2027, according to the proposal.

Life of the Land, an environmental and consumer advocacy group, submitted an opposing statement of position to the utilities commission, saying the rate increase would bring $170 million to Hawaiian energy corporations by 2028 without the proper cost scrutiny that an increase of this scale would require.

“A $170 million rate increase that… asks ratepayers to bear asymmetric [Performance Incentive Mechanism] risk, and threatens the Commission with a full rate case if materially modified — does not meet the standard of just and reasonable ratemaking under Hawaii law,” the group’s statement said.