HECO seeks 4.1% rate increase to help pay for Oahu customers

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Hawaiian Electric has proposed a 4.1% rate increase on Oahu to generate an additional $77 million for system upgrades and renewable energy integration.

HECO says the average customer using 500 kilowatt hours a month would pay about $9 more a month.

The request still needs to be approved by the Public Utilities Commission.

In February 2018, the commission approved an interim rate increase of 2.3%. A new base rate was subsequently calculated to account for pass-through savings from federal tax law changes.

That pass-through resulted in the typical Oahu residential bill falling by about 76 cents from what it had been before the February increase, the utility said in a news release.

If approved, the 4.1% increase would go into effect as early as mid-2020.