Get the Facts
46.3 million barrels of petroleum were imported for Hawaii's total energy use over the past year.
That's 36 barrels of petroleum for every man, woman and child living in Hawaii.
$5.09 billion left the state last year to pay for imported petroleum; $4,000 for every person living in Hawaii.
That's like buying 10 million roundtrip tickets to Las Vegas.
11.3 million barrels of petroleum were burned by the Hawaii utilities last year to make electricity.
11.3 million barrels of petroleum x $79/barrel = $893 million. That would pay a year's tuition for the 13,952 undergraduate students at the University of Hawaii at Manoa 8 times.
The average residential meter in Hawaii uses 615 kilowatt hour per month. That's $175/month spent on electricity - enough for 20 Zip Paks, 24 boxes of a dozen malasadas or 14 pounds of fresh poke.
Hawaii ranks #1 in electric energy costs:
Residential rates (schedule R) as of April 1, 2013
| 45.51 cents/kWh | Lanai |
| 46.06 cents/kWh | Molokai |
| 38.18 cents/kWh | Hawaii Island |
| 36.24 cents/kWh | Maui |
| 31.87 cents/kWh | Oahu |
| 11 - 12 cents/kWh | U.S. average |
10.1 million megawatt hour of power was sold last year by Hawaii's electric utilities.
That's the equivalent of 100 wind farms that generate 30 megawatts, like Kaheawa Wind on Maui.
60 percent of electricity sold by the utilities in 2030 will still be fossil-fueled, even if we meet the Hawaii Clean Energy Initiative goals.
Burning fossil fuels increases carbon emissions, which contribute to global warming.
