Hawaii Oil Dependence to Boost America's Highest Power Bills
Paradise is about to get pricier.
Hawaii, which already struggles with the nation’s highest electric bills, could see them jump by as much as 20 percent in just two years thanks, oddly enough, to new regulations on fuel use in oceangoing ships.
The state depends on mostly low-sulfur fuel oil for about 70 percent of its power. In 2020, though, demand for that fuel is expected to surge, pushing up prices. The reason: New maritime rules that require ships worldwide to lower the amount of sulfur in their fuel. Meanwhile, Hawaii’s shift to 100 percent renewables isn’t slated to happen until 2045.
“The average person has no clue,” said Shasha Fesharaki, the Honolulu-based executive vice-chairman at FGE, an energy industry consultant. “The rates are going to have to go up."
Individually, Hawaiians paid 32.4 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity in August, more than 40% more than the amount paid by residents in number two Alaska, according to U.S. Energy Department data. That could easily rise by 20 percent, Fesharaki said.
Read more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-10-30/hawaii-oil-addiction-set-to-boost-nation-s-costliest-power-bills