The rising cost of electricity

[Miulang]

Tied to the increase in the cost of gasoline, residents of Hawai'i are also experiencing increases of more than 15% in their electricity bills. I hope the wind turbine farms that are being set up on the Big Island and Maui and I believe on Oahu will be able to help ease the cost of electricity soon. Installing solar water heaters is also something that can save money. You're lucky that you don't have cold winters so your main expense is on water heaters and air conditioners if you're lucky to have one.

My electric bill (I have electric everything) is about $33/month. Most of our power comes from our rivers. About 15 years ago, I paid about $8/month.

Miulang

[craigwatanabe]

Re: The rising cost of electricity

Lucky you Miulang, mine (Big Island) is running $250 per month and that's with no AC!

Maybe the Legislature should have put caps on Electricity costs too since they're convinced Gas Cap laws will work

Everytime I meet someone living in Puna that tells me they're off the grid, I envy them. I know a guy who's running his electric generator off of bio diesel fuel.

[Miulang]

Re: The rising cost of electricity

Lucky you Miulang, mine (Big Island) is running $250 per month and that's with no AC!

Maybe the Legislature should have put caps on Electricity costs too since they're convinced Gas Cap laws will work

Everytime I meet someone living in Puna that tells me they're off the grid, I envy them. I know a guy who's running his electric generator off of bio diesel fuel.

So how come you didn't think about using a generator and getting off the power grid when you moved to the boonies, Craig? I mean, you already have the water catchment system and I think you must also have a solar water heater. Of course, my condo is only 1,000 sf. Your house is at least double that. And I only have 2 people living in the condo and you have 8 people.

Doesn't the state utilities commission have to approve requests for rate increases by the public utilities? And doesn't the utility requesting the increase have to prove that it's necessary? That would be someplace to start. Up here, they'll probably approve another round of surcharges this fall because not all of our electricity comes from water power, some of it is from diesel.

Miulang