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Commission (PUC), the Federal Communications Commission, andother local and federal agencies. We encourage you to contact us orthe PUC with comments on any utility application or with yourquestions, concerns, or complaints related to utility services. Publicinput helps us understand the consumer’s perspective on utilityservices and rates.
This Consumer Spotlight highlights the issue of utility scams and howyou can avoid being conned. There is also an article about the HuHonua Bioenergy proceedings and Stage 3 Request for Proposals forHawaii Island. We want to continually inform the public about utilityassistance programs available, so visit our website to stay informed!Lastly, there is a short article on 2 current water utility rate cases.
Happy fall from the Division of Consumer Advocacy!The past few months have been busy with manypublic and evidentiary hearings, rate cases,information requests, letters and filings. As always,we are working hard to protect and representconsumers' interests before the Pubic Utilities
For certain applications, such asgeneral rate increases andoverhead transmission linethrough residential areaapplications, the Public UtilitiesCommission (PUC) must holdhearings to allow the public andparticipants to present theirviewpoints. It is your opportunityto raise any comments orconcerns you might have relatingto the purpose for the hearing. Reading the hearing notice is agood way to acquaint yourself withsome of the basic issues that willbe raised during the publichearing. Hearing notices can befound on the PUC or Consumer Advocacy website. https://cca.hawaii.gov/dca/public_hearings/ has resources to helpprepare for and participate in ahearing!
CONSUMERSPOTLIGHT
Executive Director's Message
STATE OF HAWAIIDEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE & CONSUMER AFFAIRSDIVISION OF CONSUMER ADVOCACY
N O V E M B E R 2 0 2 1 | I S S U E 4 9
By: Dean Nishina
In this issue:
www.facebook.com/DCCAHawaii
Staying Vigilant Against Utility Scams Hu Honua Bioenergy ProceedingsStage 3 Request for Proposals for Hawaii Island Utility Bill Assistance AvailableKalaeloa Water Company General Rate IncreaseHawaii American Water Company General Rate Increase
PUC Public Hearings
Stay Vigilant Against
Utility Scams
Back in May 2021, the Hawaii Supreme Court gave new life toHu Honua Bioenergy LLC’s nearly completed biomass plant onHawaii Island by ruling unanimously in favor of the company’sappeal and sent back the case to the state Public UtilitiesCommission (PUC) with clear instructions on how to proceed.
Hu Honua, which does business as Honua Ola Bioenergy, hasbeen seeking the PUC’s approval to begin operating a $474million biomass plant in Pepeekeo on the Hama kua Coast that is99% complete and will burn trees to produce energy. Thatenergy would be purchased by Hawaii Electric Light Co., knownas Hawaiian Electric, under an agreement between the twocompanies.
The proceedings are moving towards a PUC Evidentiary Hearingscheduled to begin in mid-January 2022. Testimony and exhibitsby the participants were filed on September 16, 2021. HawaiianElectric and Hu Honua assert that the PUC should approve theAmended & Revised Power Purchase Agreement (A&R PPA).
The Consumer Advocate has been an active participant in theproceedings and filed and responded to several informationrequests. Continuing to review the testimonies and exhibitsfiled by Hawaiian Electric and Hu Honua, the ConsumerAdvocate has remaining concerns regarding the hidden costs ofthe greenhouse gas emissions, long term environmental, andpublic health costs that have not been addressed. At this timethe Consumer Advocate does not believe enough justificationhas been presented for the PUC to approve the project.
The PUC is still filing information requests to the parties andresponses to those requests are continuing to be filed. Seebelow for how to view the full proceeding.
(Docket No. 2017-0122)
PUC Docket Numbers are included in these articles for further, indepth reading. PUC public filings are accessible online via the PUC’sDocument Management System (DMS). Visit:http://dms.puc.hawaii.gov/dms
There are two common types of utilityscams—the phone call or email from afake representative of your utilitycompany and the more brazen door-to-door promotional pricing or productscam. The information below will helpyou identify these cons and avoid beingswindled.
Phone Scams:Criminals try to take advantage of peopleby calling and demanding paymentimmediately. These scams tend to useaggressive and intimidating tactics. Well-organized scammers can even spoof, orreplicate, the phone number thatappears on your caller ID to make it looklike it’s coming from your utilitycompany.
Demands for prepaid debit or creditcards, gift cards, wire transfers, moneyorders, or cash are a dead giveaway thatthe person you’re speaking with is tryingto scam you.
If you’re unsure that you spoke withsomeone who was trying to scam you,contact your utility company's customerservice team. They’ll be able to lookupand verify your account status.
Door-to-door Scams: They impersonate legitimate door-to-door sales representatives and offer tohelp you get lower rates and save onyour energy expenses. They’ll try toestablish a rapport and gently pullpersonal details out of you throughfriendly conversation.
They may ask for your credit cardnumber, bank account information, oryour social security number. Some alsotry to accept checks made out to theirname—not the energy company’s name—or cash with the promise of a specialenergy rate or expensive home products.
C O N S U M E R S P O T L I G H T I S S U E 4 9P G 2
HU HONUA BIOENERGY
PROCEEDINGS
C O N S U M E R S P O T L I G H T I S S U E 4 9 P G 3
On January 21, 2021, the State of Hawaii Public Utilities Commission(PUC) issued a letter to Hawaiian Electric Light Company, Inc.(HELCO) requesting them to proceed with developing a Stage 3Request for Proposals (RFP), specifically for Hawaii Island . The letterstated, “the [PUC] intends that this will be an “all-source”procurement, based upon an updated assessment of grid needs forthe island, and open to a variety of utility-scale and distributedrenewable energy technologies.”
The Hawaii Island RFP is being sought based on therecommendations from the July 2021 Hawaii Island Near-Term GridNeeds Assessment report. There is no specific reliability or shortfallissue that is driving the RFP, but is part of the State’s efforts toattain 100% renewable energy. HELCO is seeking proposals toacquire up to 206 gigawatt hours (“GWh”) annually of energy, and upto 95 megawatts (“MW”) of capacity to meet potential energyreserve margin needs situated on the eastern portion of HawaiiElectric Light’s System.
The RFP is seeking proposals for “all source” renewabledispatchable generation projects (with or without energy storagesystems), standalone energy storage projects, and/or aggregatedcustomer-sited distributed energy resources projects. HELCO willalso accept proposals from existing renewable generation projectsfor new terms after the expiration of their current agreements.
The proposed timeline includes filing the proposed final RFP byJanuary 28, 2022, with approval by February 28, 2022. The numberof projects that HELCO may acquire from this RFP depends on,among other things, the quality and cost-effectiveness of proposalsreceived in response to this RFP and economic comparison to otherRFP responses.
(Docket No. 2017-0352)
Stage 3 Request for Proposals for HawaiiIsland Docket No. 2017-0352
Kalaeloa Water Company, LLC (KWC)General Rate Increase Application(2021-0005)
KWC is a public utility that owns andoperates water and wastewater systemsthat it acquired from the United StatesNavy in December 2017, and providespotable water and wastewater servicesto customers located within a 3,723acre redevelopment district at Kalaeloaon the island of Oahu. KWC has filed an application forapproval of a general rate increase andrevised rules, regulations and rates. Inits application, the PUC will investigatewhether the proposed revenueincreases, changes in rules andregulations, and other mattersproposed in KWC’s Application are justand reasonable.
Hawaii American Water Company(HAWC) General Rate IncreaseApplication (2021-0063)
HAWC is seeking approval of a generalrate increase for wastewater collection,treatment, and disposal services toresidents, condominiums, andcommercials establishments in theHawaii Kai area on the island of Oahu.
Public Hearings
A virtual public hearing has taken placefor both of these rate cases. Recordingsof the hearings can be found on thePUC Youtube channel.
We encourage the public to filecomments relating to these applicationswith the PUC here. Please also email acopy to the Division of ConsumerAdvocacy: [email protected].
UT I L I TY B I L LASS ISTANCE AVA I LAB L E
The Division of Consumer Advocacy wants to inform consumersof available programs for those who may be in need of financialassistance. Please note that, due to the high demand forassistance, programs may quickly reach capacity.
Visit the Division of Consumer Advocacy website for up to dateCOVID-19 utility bill assistance https://cca.hawaii.gov/dca/covid-19-utility-assistance-programs/.
Contact UsDivision of Consumer AdvocacyP.O. Box 541 Honolulu, HI 96809Phone: (808) 586-2800 Fax: (808) 586-2780 E-mail: [email protected] Web Address: dcca.hawaii.gov/dca
Also VisitPublic Utilities Commission (PUC) 465 South King St., Rm. 103Honolulu, HI 96813 Phone: (808) 586-2020 Fax: (808) 586-2066 E-mail: [email protected] Address: puc.hawaii.gov
Federal Communications Commission(FCC) 445 12th St., SW Washington, DC 20554 Toll-Free: 1-888-225-5322E-mail: [email protected] Web Address:www.fcc.gov/consumers
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission(FERC)888 First St., NE Washington, DC 20426Toll-Free: 1-866-208-3372E-mail: [email protected] Address: www.ferc.gov
C O N S U M E R S P O T L I G H T I S S U E 4 9
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M Y T H S V S . F A C T S :T H E T R U T H A B O U T
S M A R T M E T E R S
S T A Y T U N E D F O R M O R E M Y T H S V S . F A C T S
Upcoming Dates of Interest
November 25, 2021: Thanksgiving (State holiday, officewill be closed) December 9, 2021: Public Hearing HECO construction ofoverhead and underground line (2021-0070) December 24, 2021: Christmas Eve (State holiday, officewill be closed)
