Customer Service

Frequently Asked Questions

This pilot program was developed collaboratively by Hawaiian Electric, the state Consumer Advocate, and representatives from the distributed energy resources industry, and reviewed and authorized for implementation by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

The Shift and Save daytime rate is the lowest to encourage customers to take advantage of abundant solar power during the middle of the day. Conversely, the evening peak rate is the highest. The ratio of the rates set by the Public Utilities Commission will be 1:2:3 for daytime, overnight and evening peak periods. That means it will cost three times more per kilowatt-hour during the evening peak than during the daytime. Shift and Save rates will be adjusted annually. The 1-year pilot program started Feb. 1, 2024.

Daytime Hours:
9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Evening Peak Hours:
5 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Overnight Hours:
9 p.m. to 9 a.m.

Starting Nov. 28, 2023, notifications were sent out to about 13,500 residential and 2,500 business customers on Oahu and Hawaii Island that they have been selected at random to participate in a time-of-use pilot program called Shift and Save. These customers also received a notice about 30 days before the pilot program started.

Participants are randomly selected residential and commercial customers (J and G only) who have had advanced meters installed by December 2022. Existing time-of-use (TOU) customers were not selected for this pilot but are welcome to enroll. However, since the old TOU program is closed to customers, they will not be able to re-enroll once they change programs.

Shift and Save may be introduced to all customers in 2025, but how the program works will be determined by the results of the pilot. If a customer was not selected for pilot, they do have the option to enroll in Shift and Save rates. If the customer does not have an advanced meter, the Company will determine a metering solution to provide the TOU rates.

The Shift and Save pilot program encourages customers to shift some of their electricity use from the evening peak and overnight to daytime when solar energy is abundant and less expensive. If successful, Hawaii will further reduce dependence on fossil fuels, cut greenhouse gas emissions, make its electric grids more reliable and resilient and, over time, drive down costs.

Participating in the pilot does not end your existing NEM tariff agreement. Customers can still be on NEM and participate in Shift and Save. The export rates for NEM customers will change and be based on the time-of-use pilot rates, depending on the time you are exporting back to the grid.

Customers are encouraged to go online to hawaiianelectric.com/myaccount to access their “My Energy Use” portal and use the rate comparison tool found at the top of their dashboard. For the first six months of the pilot program, residential customers will be protected from an unexpected surge in their bill. There is a 6-month cap that will keep their Shift and Save bill from going up more than $10 a month compared to what would have been charged on the pre-pilot rate for the same month. Commercial customer bills will be capped at no more than a 4% increase compared to what would have been charged on the existing rate for the same month.

Yes, customers have the option to enroll or decline participation in the pilot program at any time. They will be able to access the online forms at hawaiianelectric.com/shiftandsave.