Hawai’i is blessed with abundant sunshine and a temperate climate. In contrast to many parts of the mainland United States, no significant energy is spent in Hawai’i on heating costs (other than hot-water heating). In addition, buildings can be designed to take advantage of tradewinds and other wind patterns to reduce or eliminate the need for air conditioning.
All this means that Hawai’i residents use less energy in their houses than the citizens of any other state.1
Also, in Hawai’i, one cannot take long automobile trips without going in circles, and there is practically no heavy industry that consumes large quantities of fuel (except for power-generation plants).
All these circumstances help account for the fact that, in 1995 (the most recent year for which data ate available), Hawai’i had the second lowest rate of per-capita energy consumption of any state in the union, with 216.1 million British thermal units consumed per person. (New York state had the lowest per– capita rate, at 215.1 million Btu; despite heavy industrialization and cold winters, which would contribute to a higher-than-Hawai’i energy consumption rate, millions of the state’s urban dwellers don’t own cars, thus apparently bringing down the average energy consumption rate.)
Transportation
Far and away, most of the energy used in Hawai’i, about two-thirds, is consumed by the transportation sector. Aviation fuel accounts for slightly more than half of this; ground transportation accounts for about 35 percent; and marine transport accounts for about 15 percent.
The state energy resource coordinator’s report for 1996 notes that “Ground transportation fuel use has been steadily increasing. Although the number of registered vehicles has declined, fuel use continues to increase, suggesting that each vehicle either traveled farther or the overall fuel efficiency of the islands’ motor vehicles decreased. “2
The increasing number of personal trucks and sport utility vehicles on Hawai’i roads almost certainly has contributed to this di–minished fuel efficiency of the Hawai’i fleet. As the accompanying graph shows, personal trucks use more than one and a half times as much energy per passenger mile as do automobiles.
Fossil Fuels
Fossil fuels (oil and coal) accounted for about 90 percent of the energy consumed, with the remainder provided, in order of significance, by biomass (mainly bagasse from sugar plantations); solid waste (chiefly the H-POWER plant on O’ahu); geothermal energy (on the Big Island); hydroelectric power; solar; and wind. The mix of energy sources has changed somewhat since 1993. The decline of the sugar industry has resulted in some of the power generated by sugar mills being derived now from fossil fuels instead of bagasse. The contribution of geothermal energy has increased.
With transportation consuming about two-thirds of the total fuel used in Hawai’i, almost all the remainder goes to produce electricity. Of this amount, residential custom–ers use about 28 percent;3 the remainder is consumed by the commercial and industrial sector.
Island Breakdown
There are several other ways of analyzing electrical use. The per-capita electrical consumption rate is obtained by divid–ing the total amount of electrical use in a given area by the population.
On Moloka’i, the per– capita annual electrical con–sumption in 1992 was approximately 4,200 kilowatt hours; Maui Electric Co. forecasters predict little, if any, growth in this amount over the next 15 years.4 Perhaps not coincidentally, Moloka’i also has the highest electrical rates in the state.
On Lana’i, the per-capita consumption rate provides a dramatic illustration of the way in which this per-capita rate reflects economic growth, if not growth in con–sumption at the level of individual house–holds. Over the period 1980 to 1986, the per-capita electricity use actually declined, from about 2,800 kilowatt hours per resi–dent to about 2,200 kWh. Since then, in lockstep with the development of the two luxury resorts at Koele and Manele, per-capita consumption skyrocketed to 9,515 kWh in 1992. MECO’s “moderate growth” forecasts show it continuing to climb to about 11,000 kWh before leveling off.
The per-capita consumption for the island of Maui, by contrast, was 8,377 kWh. By comparison, the O’ahu per-capita rate for the same year was 7,690 kWh.5
While looking at the per-capita rate pro–vides some idea of economic activity, this says nothing about the comparative levels of consumption by households. The household consumption rate can provide some insight into the overall consumer habits of a given population.
Here, Kaua’i scores lowest in the state 5,290 kWh per year per household in 1995. Moloka’i ranks just above Lana’i, at 5,535 kWh. The island of Maui, however, was second-highest, at 7,464 kWh. O’ahu was first, at 7,579. The Big Island ranked third, with 6,579 kWh; Kaua’i was fourth, at 5,692. The statewide average for was 7,366 kWh per residential customer in 1995.6
Electric Economy
Growth in the economy usually sparks growth in energy consumption. As energy prices rise, however, often economies will see efficiency improvements that result in a reduction in the energy required to produce a unit of gross domestic product.
In Hawai’i, greater efficiency has led to a 14.2 percent decline in energy use per capita since 1970.7 “On the other hand,” the DBEDT energy resources analyst writes, “electricity sales have continued to rise faster than the population has grown and in recent years have also risen faster than the Gross State Product (GSP). During 1995, electricity sales grew 2.6 percent, compared to GSP growth of 0.5 percent. This corre–sponded to a two percent increase in per– capita sales, more than three times the rate of de facto population growth.”
Overall, in 1995, electricity sales were almost two and a half times 1970 levels; per– capita electricity consumption was one and a half times what it was in 1970.
Homes vs. Hotels
Statewide, about 72 percent of the electric–ity generated is used by the commercial and industrial sectors. Only about 28 percent is used to power homes.
What this means is that opportunities for the most significant reductions in electricity consumption lie mostly in the non-residential area. The efforts of individual householders, taken collec–tively, can at most nibble at the margins of overall electric demand.
But both commercial and residential users have incen–tives, whether economic or environmental, to curb their consumption of electricity. For commercial users, the state’s demand-side manage–ment programs have identi–fied installation of high-effi–ciency fluorescent lights (expensive, but able to pay for themselves in energy savings over the long haul), energy-efficient mo–tors, refrigeration systems, and air condi–tioners, as means of achieving significant reductions in demand.
For residential users, the largest poten–tial for electricity savings lies in the hot-water heater. On average, it accounts for about 40 percent of a household electric bill. For this reason, the demand-side man–agement programs of utilities statewide have targeted replacement of conventional hot-water heaters by ones that are solar-pow–ered.
In the long term, implementation of energy-efficient designs in new houses and buildings can lead to substantial electrical savings. According to the state energy re–sources coordinator, a model energy code developed by the state Energy Division could result in avoided utility costs of $240 million over 20 years and could reduce the total generating capacity needed statewide by 50 megawatts.
Three counties have adopted the code. Maui County alone has not.
1. Source: Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, Hawai`i Energy Strategy Report, October 1995.
2. DBEDT, State Energy Resources Coordinator’s Annual Report, 1996, p. 15.
3. Source: MECO Customer Service forecasts, submitted to the Land Use Commission.
4. MECO document filed with the state Public Utilities Commission as part of the Integrated Resource Planning docket, June 1993.
5. “Residential” users do not include apartments and condominiums where units are not on individual meters. This large fraction of the residential market is counted as commercial by the utilities.
6. DBEDT, State Data Book, 1996. Table 17.10, Electric Utilities by Islands: 1995.
7. Energy Resources Coordinator’s Annual Report, 1996, p. 2.
Volume 8, Number 10 April 1998