HONOLULU (AP) — Hawaiian Electric Co. has put forward a proposal that would raise base rates for customers on Oahu for the first time in nearly six years.
The company filed the proposal seeking to increase customer rates by 6.9 percent with the Public Utilities Commission on Friday. The move is part of the company’s plan to generate an additional $106 million in revenue, Hawaii News Now reported.
Under the proposal, HECO officials say an Oahu residential customer using 500 kilowatt hours a month would see an increase of $8.71 a month to $141.03, based on December bills. Any change likely wouldn’t take effect until mid-2017.
The utility said the additional revenue would help cover costs for system upgrades, improved customer service and renewable energy efforts.
HECO said in a news release that it has spent more than $900 million since 2011 on replacing and upgrading equipment to improve Oahu’s power grid.
The company’s proposal comes a week after it issued a request for information from homeowners about properties that would be available for utility-scale renewable energy projects, such as solar and wind farms. Hawaiian Electric, Maui Electric and the Hawaii Electric Light Co. are looking to increase the number of clean energy projects on the islands of Hawaii, Oahu, Maui, Molokai and Lanai.
The effort is part of the state’s goal to generate 100 percent renewable energy by 2045.