What does Hawaiian Electric pay for power sent back to the grid?

10 to 18 cents, against a 50 cent retail rate. Per the specific programme.

Do I need a battery with Hawaiian Electric?

Yes, and we treat it as mandatory. Because Hawaiian Electric does not credit exports one for one, the return has to come from using your own production rather than selling it, which after dark means storage and usually a larger array than a one for one utility would need. The other half is backup: panels alone shut off in an outage, so a battery is what keeps the house running in a storm. We do not refer panels-only systems in Hawaiian Electric territory. This is our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement.

How do I find my Hawaiian Electric bill?

Sign in at hawaiianelectric.com. Open My Account, then Billing. Open the latest bill and save the PDF. Or screenshot the summary page. If you cannot get to it, a rough guess at your average monthly amount is enough to start.

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Hawaiian Electric

Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai and Hawaii Island. One company across five islands, with different rates on each. Kauai is not part of it.

Type: Investor owned
Accounts: 470K

What they credit you

10 to 18 cents, against a 50 cent retail rate

Published terms

New rooftop customers enrol in Customer Grid-Supply Plus, crediting exports at roughly 10 to 18 cents per kWh by island and time of day. Net energy metering has been closed since 2015.

Month to month: Per the specific programme.

Published terms · checked 2026-09-05 · source

Hawaiian Electric requirementRequired

Battery backup is mandatory
in Hawaiian Electric territory.

Hawaiian Electric does not credit the power you send back at the rate it charges you to take it.

That does not make solar a bad idea in Hawaiian Electric territory. It changes what you should build. When exports are worth a fraction of retail the credit stops being the return, and the job becomes using more of your own production inside the house, which usually means a larger array than a one for one utility would need.

Sizing is where that gets decided, so ask about it directly. Hawaii pays roughly 10 to 18 cents for an exported kilowatt hour against a retail rate above 50 cents, so every unit you keep and use is worth more than three times one you sell. Nowhere else in the country is the case for storage this arithmetic-driven. Hawaiian Electric sets its own limits. Ask Hawaiian Electric what it allows before you accept that a bigger system is off the table.

A battery then does two separate jobs. It moves daytime production into the evening so you use it instead of selling it, and it keeps the house running when the grid goes down. That second job is not a bonus. Panels on their own shut off in an outage, by design, so a roof full of them powers nothing during a storm. That is the part we will not refer around.

So we treat it as a requirement, not an upgrade. We will not refer you for a panels-only system in Hawaiian Electric territory, and you should be skeptical of anyone who quotes you one without raising storage first.

Our referral policy, not a legal or utility requirement

What your installer should be telling you

Ask which programme a quote assumes, and ask about your own circuit’s capacity. On island grids the interconnection constraint is often the street rather than the state.

Applying to Hawaiian Electric

What Hawaiian Electric itself requires, as distinct from what the state rule requires. Read from its own published guidelines on the date shown.

Net energy metering closed in October 2015: Hawaii was the first state to shut it, a decade before most of the country began debating the question. NEM Plus exists only for customers who already hold a net energy metering agreement.
What a new customer actually joins: Customer Grid-Supply Plus is the route for new rooftop systems, crediting exports at roughly 10 to 18 cents per kWh depending on island and time of day. Smart Export is the alternative for customers pairing with storage.
The retail rate is what makes the arithmetic work: Hawaii residential electricity runs above 50 cents per kWh, several times the mainland average. A kilowatt hour you generate and use yourself is worth that, not the export credit.
Battery Bonus is closed; its replacement pays more per battery: The programme that paid $850 per committed kW has been replaced by Bring Your Own Device Plus, offering up to $2,000 per battery, doubling to $4,000 for qualifying lower and moderate income households.
Circuit limits are real here in a way they are not elsewhere: Island grids are small and some circuits are saturated. Interconnection can be constrained by your street rather than by any state cap, so ask about your specific circuit before you sign.
Which island you are on changes the answer: Hawaiian Electric serves Oahu, Maui County and Hawaii Island under one company with different rates by island, and Kauai is a separate member-owned cooperative entirely.

From Hawaiian Electric’s published guidelines · checked 2026-09-05 · source