5 ms·
Hawaii has the highest cost of electric in the nation. I used to live in Hawaii, and working from home, my monthly electric bill was $500-$750. Hawaii also has
by JDDunn9 13y ago
Hawaii has the highest cost of electric in the nation. I used to live in Hawaii, and working from home, my monthly electric bill was $500-$750. Hawaii also has year-round sun, being close to the equator. The state also has rebate programs for solar panels. When I was looking into it, if you got a 5-year loan, it would be cheaper to buy the panels than pay your electric bill.
There's no (legitimate) reason Hawaii's electric should be so high. They just have no incentive to reduce prices, and they have to keep their 6-figure salaries. I knew plenty of people that wanted to build solar/wind farms, but the electric company either wouldn't accept their electric at all, or would give them pennies on the dollar.
- danielharan 13y agoThe price per kWh is sky-high there - that said, I'm surprised with that high a bill. What on earth was using that much energy?
- JDDunn9 13y agoWish I knew. I know most people didn't use A/C at all, and I did, so that may have been part of it.
- Crito 13y agoDid you consider options like swamp coolers? I'm not familiar with Hawaii's climate so I don't know if they would be effective, but that power bill is more than many people pay in rent...
- JDDunn9 13y agoI never heard of swamp coolers before. Honestly I think the problem was I just kept my mainland lifestyle. In Hawaii, people keep electric consumption in mind with every purchase. Most people use fans instead of A/C. High efficiency appliances. Even keeping lights off whenever possible. I didn't realize the electric problem until after I had already purchased the large screen plasma TV, A/C, etc.
- Crito 13y agoSwamp coolers are basically just water mist things connected to big fans. They work off of evaporative cooling, so they are extremely effective if it is dry but not effective at all if it is humid.
- matthewbadeau 13y agoI know on Oahu, certain parts of the island are very dry while others are extremely wet. I haven't seen evaporative coolers on this island. They might be here, I just haven't heard of anyone using or talking about them. Many people have older homes with jalousie windows and rely on the trade winds to cool their homes down.
- yesiamyourdad 13y agoHawaii is humid (surrounded by water, right?) so swamp coolers are out. For the prices, if you'd ever been to HI you wouldn't be surprised. Everything costs more there, a lot more. Again, it's several thousand miles from the nearest major landmass
- yummyfajitas 13y agoThere certainly are legitimate reasons - the cost of generating is simply high. They aren't exactly raking in ridiculous profits. https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AHE&fstype=ii&ei=r7C2UpjODcSGwAOwkQE https://www.google.com/finance?q=NYSE%3AHE&fstype=ii&ei=r7C2...
- walshemj 13y agoGiven its geography why is Hawaii not able to use geothermal like Iceland does?