Upcountry Energy Resilience Project hosts discussion: ‘Understanding Your Electric Bill’

The Upcountry Energy Resilience Project, a community-led initiative, will host a discussion about “Understanding Your Electric Bill” on Thursday, March 6 at 4 p.m. via Zoom. This virtual meeting aims to address the systemic issues and common questions related to the high cost of electricity for Upcountry Maui residents.

The meeting will feature a panel of experts, including Maui County Government and Community Affairs Director Shayna Decker, Hawaiian Electric Company Pricing Division Director Peter Young, Executive Director of the Consumer Advocate Michael Angelo and Hawaiʻi Natural Energy Institute faculty energy specialist and former Public Utilities Commissioner Jennifer Potter.

“We are committed to empowering Upcountry residents with the knowledge and resources they need to navigate the complexities of their energy bills, and hopefully lower them,” said Shay Chan Hodges, co-founder of the Upcountry Energy Resilience Project. 

The goals of the meeting are to:

1. Demystify Electricity Charges: Explain how charges are determined.
2. Analyze Usage and Consumer Costs: Help the public and decision-makers understand the wide range of usage situations and billing scenarios.
3. Investigate Potential Issues: Initiate a conversation about broader issues contributing to rising and varying electric bills, such as: faulty solar, old appliances, age of the infrastructure/home, and tracking concerns.
4. Identify all of the agencies and their roles in our energy landscape and provide real resources to get help with understanding your electric bill and reduce the costs as individuals and for the community at large.

The Upcountry Energy Resilience Project (UERP) is also collaborating with University of Hawaiʻi Maui College students to collect voluntary utility bill information from residents to analyze patterns in our community usage and how it relates to costs to gain a deeper understanding of energy spending within the community. 

“Last year, I had an electric bill continuously rising with no explanation,” said UERP project leader and co-founder Stacey Alapai, who is a Makawao resident. “Over time my $200/month bill had risen to over $500. I had so many questions about it, but didn’t know where to ask them. I realized many of my neighbors had the same questions – ‘Why is my usage going up? What are these fees for? How can I reduce my bill?’ This meeting is a crucial step in working to resolve utility issues that our neighbors are facing today and empower our community to take charge of our energy future.”

Pre-registration for the event is optional and includes an opportunity to provide bill information. To join the meeting, click the Zoom link here.