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Net Metering In 2001, the State of Hawaii passed a new law allowing the use of net energy metering by residential and commercial customers who own and operate eligible renewable energy generators. Hawaiian Electric and our neighbor island utilities, Hawaii Electric Light Company and Maui Electric Company, support the net energy metering concept as a way to encourage the use of renewable energy in Hawaii. Here is some information about net energy metering which we hope will be helpful to you. 1. What is net Net Metering? If you own an eligible renewable energy generator, you may enter into an agreement with your utility to connect your generator to the utility grid, allowing it to feed surplus electricity into the grid. Net energy metering means that any kilowatt-hours your renewable energy generator produces and feeds back into the grid will be subtracted from the kilowatt-hours of electricity you obtain from your utility to determine the net amount of kilowatt-hours. You will be billed only on the net kilowatt-hours. Kilowatt-hours from utility – kilowatt-hours self-generated = net kilowatt-hours 2. What’s the value of net energy metering? Net energy metering allows you to get more value from the electricity you generate with your renewable system. How? By allowing you to offset your purchase of electricity from your utility against excess electricity produced by your renewable system at the retail rate. Without net metering, you would use the electricity generated by your system to supply your own immediate needs and you would purchase at the regular retail rate any additional amount you needed. If, at certain times of the day, your system generated excess power and fed it back into the grid, and you had a power purchase agreement with your electric utility, you’d only be compensated for that power at the wholesale rate, which is much lower than the retail rate. 3. What type of generators are eligible? The legislation specifies that net energy metering applies to solar, wind, biomass or hydroelectric generating facilities, or a hybrid system consisting of two or more of these facilities, with a capacity of not more than 10 kilowatts. (For more information about these technologies, see the website of the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism - Energy, Resources & Technology Division). 4. I am installing a solar water heating system. Does that qualify for net energy metering? No. Net energy metering applies to systems which generate electricity. Solar electric systems, known as photovoltaics, use solar cells to convert the sun’s light into electricity. By contrast, solar water heating systems use heat from the sun to directly heat water for use in your home. Since solar water heating systems do not produce electricity, they do not feed electricity back into the electric grid and do not qualify for net energy metering. 5. How many customers can sign up for this? Under the law, there’s a cap on the total power producing capacity of generators signed up to take advantage of net energy metering. The cap is set at 0.5 percent of each electric utilities' system peak demand. The actual number of customers who can sign up before this cap is reached depends on the combined size of the individual renewable energy systems. 6. Why is there a limit on the amount of customers who can sign up? The cap is provided for in the law. When customers use net energy metering, they are getting credit at the retail rate for self-produced electricity. The retail electric rate the utility charges includes recovery of not only the costs of producing electricity, but also the cost of facilities (e.g., lines, substations) to deliver the power to customers, as well as administrative and other operating costs such as billing. Someone who produces their own electricity on site only incurs the costs to generate electricity, not the additional delivery and other costs. By receiving credit at the higher retail rate, in essence, the customer who net meters is receiving a subsidy from the remaining customers. But by providing parameters, it’s a subsidy that can be kept to a reasonable level and is one way to help support small renewable energy producers. 7. Is there a cost to sign up for net energy metering? No, there is no charge to sign up. 8. What do I have to do to sign up? See this handout that describes the steps you can take. In general, you will be asked to enter into a customer agreement that specifies the technical requirements necessary to ensure your system can safely connect to the utility grid. This is very important. If your generator mistakenly backfeeds power into an electric line that utility crews thought was deenergized, the crews can be seriously injured or even killed. The agreement will require you to obtain an inspection by a licensed electrical contractor to certify your renewable system meets the necessary safety standards. Whether you are installing a new renewable energy generator or considering net energy metering for an existing generator, compliance with all safety and other codes is required. For information on how to obtain a County building permit (if needed), call 523-4505 (Oahu), 961-8331 (Hilo), 327-3520 (Kona), 270-7250 (Maui County). 9. Do I need a new meter and if so, do I need to pay for it? If any additional meters are required, your electric utility will provide them at no cost to you. You may be required to provide space for additional metering sockets if additional meters are required. 10. What happens to my electric bill if I generate more electricity than I buy from the utility? According to the law, if you have a purchase power agreement (this is a contract separate from the net energy metering agreement) with the utility, you will be paid for those excess kilowatt-hours. If you do not have a purchase power agreement with the utility, you will be billed for zero kilowatt-hours and only responsible for the minimum charge. The minimum charge is an amount that covers some of the fixed costs of maintaining your electric account, including the cost of billing and reading your meter.
Please call the
following number for more information:
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