(Pacific Business News)
Hawaii regulators have approved a new agreement between Hawaii Electric Light Co. and Puna Geothermal Ventures that will help residential customers on the Big Island save about 70 cents on their monthly electric bills.
The Honolulu Star-Advertiser reports that HELCO renegotiated its power purchase agreement with Puna Geothermal, which was approved by the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission on Dec. 30, after the state's only geothermal plant increased its production capacity tp 38 megawatts from 30 megawatts.
The newspaper reports that the electric utility will pay reduced rates for the amounts from 25 to 38 megawatts of energy; HELCO wwill continue to pay for the first 25 megawatts on an "avoided cost" basis, which is a rate negotiated under the old contract that is equivalent to what the utility would pay for electricity produced with oil.
