{"id":322777,"date":"2026-03-05T07:34:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:34:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/322777\/"},"modified":"2026-03-05T07:34:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-05T07:34:12","slug":"the-cost-of-energy-in-hawaii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/322777\/","title":{"rendered":"The cost of energy in Hawaii"},"content":{"rendered":"

In HNN\u2019s new livestream show \u201cCovering the Cost with Annalisa Burgos,\u201d<\/a> we break down the numbers behind Hawaii\u2019s affordability crisis in candid conversations with financial experts, entrepreneurs and community leaders. <\/p>\n

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Most people do not understand how electric rates are set or what drives their utility bills.<\/p>\n

In this episode of Covering the Cost, Annalisa Burgos sits down with energy policy expert Henry Curtis, executive director of nonprofit Life of the Land<\/a>, to find out what it takes to lower energy costs for residents struggling with Hawaii\u2019s high cost of living.<\/p>\n

According to utility tracking site poweroutage.us<\/a>, Hawaii residents pay the highest residential electricity rates in the United States, with an average of 41 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) and more than $200 in monthly electric bills. That is more than double the national average of 18 cents. <\/p>\n

Hawaii\u2019s electricity rate is set each month by the state Public Utilities Commission. For March, the rate is almost 43 cents per kilowatt-hour on Oahu and higher on neighbor islands. That\u2019s mainly due to Hawaii\u2019s reliance on fossil fuels and our island geography.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you look at islands throughout the world, they pay much higher rates than continents. Continents have large systems. They have economies of scale. They can trade electricity with each other,\u201d Curtis explained. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is our use of fossil fuels is why it\u2019s expensive,\u201d he continued. \u201cSwitching to renewables will lower the price, lower the cost to everyone, offset by the fact that we have never addressed climate change. Greenhouse gasses are rising worldwide and therefore we have to harden the grid. We have to guard against wildfires and we have to do all these other mitigations, so the mitigations will drive up the price, while our converting to renewables drives down the price.\u201d<\/p>\n

Other charges on our bills come from costs faced by HECO or the Kauai Island Utility Cooperative related to fossil fuels, renewable energy, insurance, disaster-related liabilities, and more.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s operating the grid, it\u2019s managing the company, it\u2019s vegetative management, it\u2019s fighting against wildfires, it\u2019s about paying taxes,\u201d Curtis said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause the cost of maintaining the grid is going up to fight wildfires and to fight against climate change, and because other costs are going up,\u201d Curtis added. \u201cIt\u2019s the rates are lower than they would have been if this hadn\u2019t occurred, so it\u2019s like a lower slope going up.\u201d<\/p>\n

For decades, HECO has controlled and generated power, mainly through fossil fuels, and managed electric grids across the islands.<\/p>\n

State senators will vote on a measure next week to explore the pros and cons of restructuring HECO,<\/a> with critics noting its current dual role poses a conflict that delays the benefits of renewable energy. Recent financial troubles tied to the Lahaina wildfires are also prompting lawmakers to look at other ways to upgrade the islands\u2019 aging power system. <\/p>\n

State Sen. Glenn Wakai introduced Senate Bill 3326<\/a>, which tasks the Public Utilities Commission with creating a framework for separating HECO\u2019s power generation business from its transmission and distribution services.<\/p>\n

Bill supporters believe opening generation to the private sector will promote competition and investment, and drive lower rates and more reliable service. <\/p>\n

But critics of the measure want more information about the impact of a restructuring and worry it would cause disruptions with no guarantee of lowering costs for consumers.<\/p>\n

Curtis says independent producers are already coming in through the current competitive bidding process. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey have to bid in and there\u2019s a separate branch of the utility with a wall between them, a separate branch that evaluates all the bids, and there are monitors that the PUC oversees that makes sure that that HECO is not cheating,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He suggests less disruptive approaches, such as installing more rooftop solar systems, offering subsidies, and using plug-in solar. <\/p>\n

Now with the U.S. and Israeli war with Iran, rates are expected to go up. <\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of oil flows through the Persian Gulf, and if that is all shut down because of this war that is spreading through the area that can have a drastic price and because Hawaii is powered by petroleum,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Curtis suggests consumers make changes to reduce electricity use if they want to lower their bills, through energy efficient upgrades and appliances. <\/p>\n

Catch \u201cCovering the Cost with Annalisa Burgos\u201d<\/a> Wednesdays at 12:30 p.m. online, on HNN\u2019s streaming app and anywhere you get your podcasts.<\/p>\n

From skyrocketing housing prices to the country\u2019s highest tax burden, Annalisa is covering the cost of aloha in America\u2019s most expensive state and offering practical strategies, policy insights, and honest talk about what it really takes to call Hawaii home.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In HNN\u2019s new livestream show \u201cCovering the Cost with Annalisa Burgos,\u201d we break down the numbers behind Hawaii\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322778,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[1316,160161,3154,160160,184,160163,1435,242,16237,2587,160162,160164,85,46,160165,4296,10477,5536,141],"class_list":{"0":"post-322777","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-affordability","9":"tag-annalisa-burgos","10":"tag-cost-of-living","11":"tag-covering-the-cost","12":"tag-economy","13":"tag-electric-bill","14":"tag-energy","15":"tag-environment","16":"tag-fossil-fuel","17":"tag-hawaii","18":"tag-hawaii-news-now","19":"tag-heco","20":"tag-il","21":"tag-israel","22":"tag-lahaina","23":"tag-podcast","24":"tag-power","25":"tag-renewable-energy","26":"tag-science"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322777"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322777\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322778"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}