Understanding Elements of Your Bill

Explanation of Charges

You are charged for the kilowatt-hours you use. There is also a service charge to defray expenses we incur in serving you, whether or not you use any electricity. See our guide to understanding elements of your bill.

We calculate your bill by multiplying the amount of electricity you use (measured in kilowatt-hours) by the price of electricity (charge per kilowatt-hour). There is also a fixed monthly customer charge and other adjustments.

Our fuel costs are constantly changing. All increases or decreases in these costs are passed on to our customers through the energy cost recovery clause.

Understanding some of the common causes of high electric bills can help you to manage your energy costs.

Elements of Your Bill

1. Account Summary

   This section provides the electric service billing period for the current bill and summarizes what is owed on the current bill.

2. Outstanding Balance

   The previous balance line item shows the total charges on your last electric bill. The payments you made toward the last bill are subtracted from the previous balance to determine how much, if anything, remains to be paid toward the previous bill. That amount is the outstanding balance.

3. Due Date

   This is when your payment should be received by Hawaiian Electric to avoid a late payment charge.

4. Total Amount Due

   This is how much you currently owe. The total amount due includes the current charges, any adjustments made to your bill, plus the outstanding balance. Adjustments may include items such as: fees for service establishment, reconnection, late payment, returned check, or Sun Power for Schools donation. The date provided is the final date by which your payment should be received by Hawaiian Electric to avoid a late payment charge.

5. Bill Period

   This box contains data that describes your electricity use during the billing period and the rate schedule (such as R Residential Service) used to compute your electricity charges. The beginning and ending dates of the electric service billing period and the number of days in the billing period are provided.

   Meter #

   is the identification number on the electric meter. Register provides the meter's unit of measure. KWH means kilowatt-hours.

   Current Reading

   is the cumulative number of kilowatt-hours shown on the meter when it was read for the current electric bill. Previous reading is the cumulative number of kilowatt-hours shown on the meter when it was read for the previous bill. The difference is computed by subtracting the previous reading from the current reading.

   For accounts that use large amounts of electricity, the meters may not register electricity use by single kilowatt-hours. They may register electricity use by tens or hundreds of kilowatt-hours. That is explained by the multiplier. For most residences the multiplier is 1. For large power users the multiplier may be as high as 240. When the difference is multiplied by the multiplier, the electricity usage for the billing period is determined in kilowatt-hours.

   At times, your electric bill may have to be estimated. In those cases, (EST) will be printed on the bill next to the current reading.

   For accounts that have two electric meters, the second meter number and corresponding data will be shown below the data provided for the first meter.

   Residential and Schedule G commercial customers with advanced meters may see a KW line item underneath their KWH usage. Please disregard this at this time as it does not factor into your bill calculation. It may be used in the future when additional rate options and programs become available.

6. Usage Profile

   This section provides you with a historical view of your electricity use. The handy bar graph on the left side tells you at a glance how much your average daily electricity use has fluctuated over the past year.

   The electric usage profile for your meter can help you monitor your electricity use. It provides a record of the electricity use for your account for the past year. The date is the ending date of a billing period. KWH is the number of kilowatt-hours used during that period. The amount and days are the total current charges on your electric bill and the number of days in that billing period, respectively. KWH/day lists the average number of kilowatt-hours of electricity used per day during the period. $/day tells you, on average, how much your electricity costs per day.

7. Messages

   This area contains useful information and tips for managing your electricity use. It also may contain specific messages for individual customers about their electric account.

8. Bill Detail

   This section describes the charges on your electric bill. It lists the previous balance on your account and subtracts the incoming payment you made toward your last bill to arrive at the outstanding balance.

9. Current Charges

   Your current charges are itemized based on the type of rate schedule applicable to your account. For residential electric service the following charges may be itemized on your bill:

   
   

   Customer Charge

   Covers some of the fixed costs of maintaining electric service to your home, whether you used any electricity or not. These costs include reading your meter and processing your bill.

   
   

   Non Fuel Energy

   Covers some of the costs, excluding fuel costs, to provide electric service to you. These include costs to operate our power plants and maintain the electric system.

   
   

   Energy Cost Recovery

   Recovers fuel and purchased energy expenses and is increased or decreased monthly in accordance with changes in the cost of purchased energy from independent power producers and in the price of fuel used in our power plants.

   
   

   IRP Cost Recovery

   Allows Hawaiian Electric to recover the costs of its long-term energy planning process, Integrated Resource Planning, and the costs of certain energy management programs.

   
   

   PBF Surcharge

   The Public Benefits Fund (PBF) Surcharge collects funds that are used to pay for energy efficiency programs, including customer incentives such as rebates, to reduce electricity use in Hawaii. The programs are managed by a third party administrator, Hawaii Energy, reporting to the Public Utilities Commission.

   
   

   Purchased Power Adjustment

   The Purchased Power Adjustment Clause recovers expenses and related taxes for non-energy purchased power costs from independent power producers, which were formerly recovered through the Non Fuel Energy Charge.

   
   

   RBA Rate Adjustment

   The Revenue Balancing Account Rate Adjustment, is a charge or credit approved by the Public Utilities Commission under a new method of setting electric rates called decoupling, which supports Hawaiian Electric's clean energy efforts.

   
   

   Renewable Infrastructure

   A charge approved by the Public Utilities Commission to collect funds that are used to recover the cost of certain projects that facilitate the development and/or integration of renewable energy.

   
   

   Interim Increase

   Adjusts bills to reflect any interim rate adjustments approved by the Public Utilities Commission.

   
   

   Green Infrastructure Fee

   Supports the State of Hawaii Green Energy Market Securitization (GEMS) program to provide low-cost loans to those who cannot afford upfront costs or cannot qualify for other financing for green infrastructure improvements such as photovoltaic systems, energy storage, advanced inverters and energy monitoring devices.

10. Total Amount Due

    The charges listed above are summed to determine your total current charges. They are added together with your outstanding balance, if any, to compute the total amount due.