How much is Electricity on the Big Island?

The cost for electricity or electrical service on the Big Island of Hawaii depends on what kind of usage you are talking about. I will focus on residential usage since I am assuming that is what most of my readers are interested in.

In 2006 the average price paid in cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) was 31.03 Compare this to what you are currently paying and you will understand why islanders joke about the "paradise tax", meaning anything that cost more in Hawaii than the mainland, or most anyplace else.

The following is press directly from the Hawaiian Electric Company.

Rates are not the same for all categories of customers because the rates are based on the cost of serving each category. It costs more on a cost per kilowatt-hour basis to serve residential and small business customers than it does to serve business customers consuming large amounts of electricity.

The cost of electricity in Hawaii is higher than on the U.S. mainland because the electrical systems on each island are independent. There are no neighboring utility companies from which to draw power in the event of a problem with the generation or distribution systems.

To minimize the risk of not being able to deliver electricity to our customers, we must have reserve generating capacity and multiple distribution routes. Additionally, our state's remote location adds to the cost of doing business. And in 2006, higher fuel costs also caused the average cost per kilowatt-hour to increase.

And there you have it, one example of the paradise tax in Hawaii.

Please leave a comment to share how much you are paying in your city and state.

Comments

[Tom]

I am Combustion Turbine Technician for the major electric utility here in Southern New Jersey and my last bill charges paid in cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) was 14.3 total (dividing cost of bill by total kWh used). That is for all charges including Generation and Transmission along with other fees. The cost for Generation alone paid in cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh) averaged 8.38. With the majority of Hawaiian electric being generated primarily by the high cost fuels of oil and gas and not much of an electrical grid to draw reserves from, HECO, HELCO, MECO and the IPP's must maintain sufficient supply to allow for generator downtimes due to trips or scheduled maintenance. The higher cost is understandable.

[DoubleBrush]

Thank you very much for your insightful comment Tom. I truly respect your expertise on this post.