Hawaii adopts performance-based rate tools to accelerate clean energy transition
PUC Commissioner Leo Asuncion Jr. called the decision “a down payment on a clean-energy future for Hawaii.”
Customers can expect a host of benefits resulting from “this new framework to align HECO financial incentives with the state’s clean energy goals,” he said in a statement, including lower electricity bills, a more resilient grid, and better access to clean, local energy.
While helping to reduce customer rates, the new structure will also allow HECO the opportunity to earn additional revenues if it achieves performance targets related to customer service and satisfaction and the accelerated adoption of clean energy technologies.
HECO’s target revenues will be adjusted annually according to an annual revenue adjustment, which will include accounting for inflation, utility productivity and customer benefits.
“The extension from a three-year rate case cycle to a five-year MRP should encourage utility cost savings, and reduce the administrative burden of frequent rate cases,” the PUC said in a summary of its decision. And setting revenue targets without distinguishing between capital and operating expenditures “will level the playing field between these different types of expenses and promote selection of least-cost solutions.”
During the MRP, a major projects interim recovery adjustment mechanism will continue, “providing the potential for interim recovery for exceptional investments,” the PUC said.
Regulators plan to issue another order in June, setting the procedural schedule for Phase 2 of the rate overhaul. The next phase will include development of the specific details of new Regulatory Adjustment Mechanisms and Performance Mechanisms. The PUC provided a table summarizing the work to be done.
