Frequently Asked Questions

Job applicants that have taken a test can view their test results on the Careers Site:

• Login to the Careers Site
• Click on "View Profile"
• Scroll down to the "Test History Data" section

Additional notes about pre-employment testing:

• Passing scores on Edison Electric Institute (EEI) aptitude tests (e.g., SASS, CAST, POSS, TECH, MASS) are valid for five (5) years from the date the applicant took the test
• Passing scores for non-EEI tests (e.g., BAPT, SRA, PSI) are valid for one (1) year from the date the applicant took the test
• When an applicant is hired into a position, the aptitude tests required for the position they were hired into is good for the length of the employee's career
• There is a six (6) month waiting period before an applicant can retake a test. However, an applicant must first apply for a position online then the applicant may be invited to take the required tests.
• Skills tests, such as typing and ten-key, do not have a six (6) month waiting period to retest. The skills tests may be immediately retaken as long as there is another vacancy, the person applies for it, and is chosen for testing.

Decoupling breaks the link between utility revenues and how much electricity customers use. This removes the incentive for utilities to increase the use of electricity.

The PUC decides in a rate case which services the utility should provide its customers, and determines how much revenue the utility may collect to cover the cost of those services.

Rates are adjusted as total electricity sales vary to allow those costs to still be recovered and to allow the utility to recover the cost of investments it makes in clean energy and reliability. The utility will not make additional profits from higher sales. Decoupling does not guarantee the utility a profit. Many factors can cause the utility to earn less than the amount allowed by the PUC.

Individual electric bills will still be based on the amount of electricity a customer uses, so customers will still have an incentive to conserve and use electricity efficiently.

Separating electricity consumption and utility revenues encourages utilities to better support Hawaii's clean energy objectives - to increase use of renewable resources, reduce use of imported fossil fuels, promote energy efficiency and protect our energy, economic and environmental security.

Decoupling is one of many major steps to support efforts to reduce Hawaii's dependence on imported oil.

In the past, the more electricity used by utility customers, the more money the utility collects. That formula isn't consistent with our state's current energy policies. To reach our state's clean energy goals, we must find ways to use less oil, not more.

Decoupling breaks the link between utility revenues and how much electricity customers use. This allows utilities to better support increased energy efficiency, conservation and increased use of renewable energy resources.

More than 50% of your electric bill pays for the rising cost of fossil fuels. As we transition to clean energy, bills will become be more stable and lower than if our state continues to rely so heavily on imported oil.

Since Hawaii is moving away from traditional, fossil-fuel based methods of generating electricity, our state is also adopting a new way of setting electricity rates to support those efforts. The idea is to help our state transition to greater energy independence through locally-produced renewable energy and energy efficiency.

Yes. A separate line item called the "RBA rate adjustment" will appear on customers' bills reflecting the decoupling adjustment. RBA stands for Revenue Balancing Account. We've made it a separate line item in order to make it easier for customers to find the adjustment.

Your individual customer bill is still based on the amount of electricity you use, so you will still save money by conserving electricity.

Any increase or decrease due to decoupling is expected to be relatively modest and will depend on a number of factors, including changes in electricity sales and inflation.

Also, customers can receive a refund if the company collects more revenues than allowed by the Commission.

According to the Progressive States Network, which has studied decoupling in other states, "decoupling has not resulted in any significant rate increases in states that have adopted it and consumers end up with more control over their utility bills to offset increase with conservation measures."

The Commission will review decoupling on an ongoing basis and address any issues that arise. In addition, the Commission has made it clear that it authorized decoupling to facilitate Hawaii's transition to a clean energy economy. If it does not appear that decoupling is achieving the intended objective, the Commission has retained the right to end the use of decoupling.

No. Many factors can cause the utility to earn less than the amount allowed by the PUC.

Decoupling enables the utility to recover on a more timely basis the fixed costs of providing service to anyone connected to the grid than it would have recovered under the traditional method. This provides the utility with an incentive to support energy efficiency, conservation and more renewable energy. The utility's financial performance will still be monitored by the Public Utilities Commission to ensure that the utility is not recovering more than what is reasonable.

The Commission and Consumer Advocate receive and review information on the utilities' finances and plans on an ongoing basis.

In addition, every three years, in each of the utility's rate request filings, the Commission will thoroughly review each utility's activities and determine what services they must provide going forward. The Consumer Advocate will also participate in these reviews.

In between those rate cases, the Consumer Advocate will assist the Commission in reviewing and validating the utility's annual decoupling adjustment filing. The utility's rates will be adjusted down or up based on factors such as an independent cost index or how the overall economy is doing.