Meter switch doubles electric costs for local business

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) — A Kalihi screen-printing business owner says his electric bills nearly doubled after Hawaiian Electric installed a new smart meter last fall, even though he says his power usage has not changed.

Chris Yokogawa, owner of Puka Prints, says the business has operated for more than a decade with relatively stable electricity costs. That changed after a smart, also known as a demand, meter was installed in late September.

Before the switch, Yokogawa says his monthly electric bill typically ranged between $400 and $500. Over the past three months, he says those bills have jumped to between $800 and $900.

“If I have to pay an extra $300, it hurts because we’re scraping by,” Yokogawa said. “It’s manual labor. We don’t make a lot of profit.”

Yokogawa contacted Hawaiian Electric and was told the increase was tied to a demand charge, a rate based on how much electricity a customer uses at peak times.

According to his bills, the business exceeded 25 kilowatts for three consecutive months, placing it into a higher rate category.

Hawaiian Electric spokesperson Darren Pai explained that customers remain on the same rate as long as their usage stays within a certain range.

“If their usage remains within a certain band, they will stay on the same rate,” Pai said. “If their usage goes higher, they may be charged a higher rate.”

But Yokogawa says his operation has remained largely the same for years.

“We basically do the same things day in, day out,” he said. “There’s some months when we don’t have as much to print, so our usage is a little bit lower, but generally it’s around the same.”

We also spoke with neighboring businesses that had smart meters installed. So far, they say their electric rates have not changed.

Hawaiian Electric says privacy rules prevent the utility from discussing individual customer accounts. Pai added that broader factors, including fuel costs, can also affect electric bills.

“As oil prices go up, that does tend to get reflected in our electric bills,” Pai said.

Yokogawa says he understands fuel costs can raise prices but questions why his bill increased so sharply without a change in usage.

“If fuel costs go up, yeah, I think electricity charges should go up,” he said. “But because we’re pretty consistent in our usage, I don’t see why our prices would go up this much.”

Hawaiian Electric says electric bills are based on two measurements: kilowatt-hours, which reflect total electricity used over a billing period, and kilowatts, which measure peak demand the highest level of electricity used at any one time. Customers who consistently exceed certain thresholds for either measurement can be moved to a higher rate schedule.

HECO also says both residential and commercial customers may request to opt out of a smart meter.

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