HELCO’s rates
Young Bros. recently asked for an increase of 34% in their interisland shipping rates.
How does this compare with HELCO’s rate increases? After all, HELCO always asks for increases, year after year.
I took the time to examine the rates for my electric provider and I found that, no, HELCO doesn’t always raise its rates. As a matter of fact, its rates have decreased from last December.
A residential customer (rate R) will see a rate decrease of between 12.3% and 13.8% depending on how much energy they require when comparing last December to this October.
Not only did I examine the residential rate, but also all the other rates that apply to commercial customers (G, J and P rates) as well. And they all went down from December.
So much for the constant cry I hear all the time: “HELCO is raising their rates once again!”
Not true, when someone takes the time to investigate.
When our electric rates fluctuate, they affect only what we consume at our home. You can always cut the cord to the electric utility and become self-generating.
But when Young Bros. increases its rates, it amounts to increases for everything we import to our island. But just try doing without the products we use every day.
I am not on HELCO’s or any other utility’s payroll, just a self-employed engineer who believes that our electric utility does a pretty good job of delivering a product to my home at a reasonable cost — unlike a gasoline station, where you have to go and pump the gas yourself.
Michael L. Last
Na‘alehu
Climb that ladder
Well, it turns out that the Portland, Ore., urinal ban was only on one building renovation and not a citywide ban (darn!). I must apologize for my inaccurate reporting and commentary on that story (Tribune-Herald, Your Views, Oct. 3).
It turns out that urinals are a very sensitive subject for some people, and I should have exercised greater care in researching the article that I based my letter on and done some serious fact checking.
The good news is that now Hawaii can be the first to enact such a ban and climb the “woke” ladder of correctness to the top.
I will make amends for my mistake by reading Mazie Hirono’s articles on “Due process of the law” and Gov. Ige’s theory on climate change.
As further penance, I will stop writing letters to the editor for one week, starting after this one letter.
Roger Schweitzer
Volcano
