City and HECO
offer solar heat loansLow- and moderate-income Oahu residents can get help buying solar water heaters that will lower their electric bills, Mayor Jeremy Harris announced yesterday at Honolulu Hale.
He also announced that the city will cut its energy consumption in half by 2010, as part of his efforts to make Honolulu a "model sustainable city for the world."
The Honolulu Solar Roofs Initiative will offer seven-year loans at zero percent and 2 percent financing (depending on income level) to cover the cost of installing solar water heaters.
The city and Hawaiian Electric Co. will offer the loans to qualified homeowners and landlords, using federal funds. HECO also will extend its $750-per-home rebate to further lower the cost of the energy-saving equipment.
Until now, the very people who could benefit most from lower utility bills because of a solar water heater were the least able to afford the upfront costs of installation, said Steve Holmes, the city's sustainability coordinator.
HECO will promote the program, and the city will handle the paperwork, Holmes said.
Meanwhile, an agreement between the city and the state Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism and the federal Department of Energy will help the city incorporate a clean-energy strategy into future city projects, Harris and Holmes said.
Holmes will work with the state and federal agencies on projects such as retrofitting all city facilities for energy efficiency and using the biogas formed at waste-water treatment plants to create electricity to help run the plants, he said.
HECO will begin accepting loan applications starting in May. For information on how to apply for the loans under the Honolulu Solar Roofs Initiative, contact 523-4207.
Holmes can be reached at 523-4714.
Hawaiian Electric Co
City & County of Honolulu