If you think your electric bill is high, imagine how the new governor will feel once he sees how much it costs to keep the lights and air conditioning on at Hawaiʻi public school.
"You look at your electricity bill and you’re going ‘what is this?” Well, it's the fuel charge. Consumption isn’t up. I mean our usage from a kilowatt, it's only 3% difference. But the electricity costs has gone up tremendously. The first quarter, gone up nearly 41%," said Randy Tanaka, assistant superintendent for the Department of Education's Office of Facilities and Operations.
"So at the end of the year, in past years we’re in the red about $5 million. If it tracks the way it's tracking we could be in the red $15 million to $20 million over and above," Tanaka told The Conversation.
Tanaka is bracing for larger bills and looking to reduce consumption or generate solar energy to offset rising energy costs.
In the past, Hawaiʻi’s public schools have gone before legislators asking for help to pay the power bills.
The DOE will report shortfall numbers after the first half of the fiscal year and put in for emergency appropriation to the Legislature when the session starts in January.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Nov. 3, 2022. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
