About 7%* of the electricity sold to customers of Hawaiian Electric Company and its subsidiaries, Hawaii Electric Light Company and Maui Electric Company, comes from renewable energy sources, compared to the nationwide average of only 2%.**
*Note: The Hawaiian Electric utilities serve the islands of Oahu, Hawaii, Maui, Molokai and Lanai -- about 95% of the state's population. Citizens Energy Services serves the island of Kauai. Figures for Kauai are not included here.
**Note: Excluding large hydroelectric resources, which are not applicable to Hawaii.
- Sponsoring the largest solar water heating program in the nation
Over 50,000 solar water heating systems were installed under the utilities’ rebate programs from 1996 - mid-2009, when the programs were transferred to a third-party administrator under the Hawaii Energy Efficiency Program, sponsored by the Public Utilities Commission. Combined with previously installed solar systems, the total statewide in 2009 is more than 80,000, making Hawaii a national leader with an estimated one out of three single-family homes equipped with solar water heating.
The utilities’ solar water heating program reduced the demand for electricity by 111,328,000 kilowatt-hours annually (the equivalent of the estimated annual electric usage of more than 14,000 households), avoided the use of 210,000 barrels of oil annually and reduced carbon dioxide emissions – a major contributor to global warming – by 116,000 tons annually.
- Installing solar in schools
Sign up to support our Sun Power for Schools program. Thanks to the contributions of our customers and HECO, HELCO, and MECO, 32 public high schools now have solar electric systems operating on their campuses. These systems provide hands-on exposure to photovoltaic technology and are also used as part of the renewable energy curriculum at these schools. Your contributions will help more schools participate.
- Supporting research to make more renewable power possible
Yes, there are challenges to using some renewable energy sources, but HECO, HELCO and MECO continue to initiate and support many projects to help develop the technologies and address some of the barriers to using them.
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- Supporting Net Energy Metering
HECO, HELCO, and MECO provide a simple net energy metering agreement for our customers who wish to contribute renewable energy legally and safely.
- Conducting Integrated Resource Planning to evaluate the use of more renewable energy
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