Utility disconnections are happening twice as often now as they did prior to the pandemic. Hawaiian Electric says that the COVID-19 moratorium on power cut-offs is to blame.
In 2023, HECO recorded just over 12,000 customer disconnections related to missed payments, though some customers may have had their power cut more than once.
For about 18 months during the pandemic, HECO paused all disconnections. The utility’s vice president of customer service Brendan Bailey said some customers stopped paying their bills during that period and then had trouble catching up when the moratorium lifted.
"Essentially, when customers know that they don't need to pay their bills and there's no risk of disconnection, the natural reaction is, for some customers at least, to not pay their bills, and they fall behind," Bailey said during a recent public meeting on utility disconnections.
The utility saw a similar spike in disconnections in 2013 and 2014 after another moratorium.
“Those ultimately came back down to normal rates. Took a couple years for that to happen,” Bailey said.
He projected that the number of disconnections would also trend down, though he noted that the situation has been exacerbated by high oil prices, which has raised the cost of electricity.
"It was kind of a double whammy," Bailey said.
HECO encourages anyone who is struggling with their electricity bills to reach out to the utility. Find information on assistance programs here.
