Hawaii solar export compensation
What Hawaii pays for exported rooftop solar power, with the source and the date each figure was checked.
Record verified 2026-09-16 · 18 of 17 fields sourced
What does your utility pay?
Fixed export rate
$0.135/kWh daytime; $0.329/kWh evening peak; $0.189/kWh overnight
HECO (Oahu) · Hawaii
New customers use SRE Export. The listed rate is locked for seven years under a new interconnection agreement. BYOD Plus can add battery grid-service incentives and separate export credits.
Source: hawaiianelectric.com
Full HECO (Oahu) detail →For new customers in the Hawaiian Electric Companies' service territories, the current export program is Smart Renewable Energy Export (Smart DER Export), not retail-rate net metering. It pays time-varying bill credits by island: daytime, evening peak, and overnight; the listed 2024-2026 rates are locked for seven years in a new interconnection agreement and then update every three years. Batteries can earn separate grid-service compensation through the active Bring Your Own Device Plus program. Kauai is served by cooperative KIUC, whose Schedule Q Modified program uses a monthly adjusted avoided-cost payment rather than the Hawaiian Electric Smart DER tariff.
Program details
| Compensation mechanism | Hawaiian Electric (HECO, MECO, and HELCO): Smart Renewable Energy Export / Smart DER Export is the only export rider for new customers; it provides time-varying bill credits rather than retail-rate net metering. The Smart Renewable Energy Non-Export rider provides no export compensation. KIUC is separate: Schedule Q Modified pays for qualifying-facility energy delivered to KIUC at a monthly adjusted avoided-cost rate, and KIUC also lists a NEM Pilot tariff. |
|---|---|
| Export rate | Hawaiian Electric Smart Renewable Energy Export rates for 2024-2026, in $/kWh, by island and period: Oahu $0.135 daytime / $0.329 evening peak / $0.189 overnight; Hawaii Island $0.106 / $0.231 / $0.148; Maui $0.066 / $0.182 / $0.131; Lanai $0.267 / $0.408 / $0.259; Molokai $0.179 / $0.272 / $0.174. KIUC Schedule Q Modified is a monthly adjusted avoided-cost payment; the tariff does not set one fixed export rate. |
| Rate effective | Hawaiian Electric rates listed as 2024-2026; new SRE export rates are updated every three years. KIUC Schedule Q Modified uses an annual base rate plus a monthly fuel-price adjustment; the latest rate sheet located was effective December 1, 2022, so a current 2026 KIUC dollar rate was not verified. |
| Credit rollover | Hawaiian Electric SRE export credits roll forward during the 12-month period; BYOD Plus export credits do not expire. KIUC Schedule Q Modified is a cash/payment mechanism, not a stated banked-credit tariff. |
| Credit expiration | Hawaiian Electric unused SRE export kWh credits expire at the end of the 12-month period; BYOD Plus export credits are expressly exempt and do not expire. No KIUC Schedule Q Modified credit-expiration rule was identified because it pays for delivered energy. |
| Annual true-up | Hawaiian Electric export credits are trued up annually at the end of each customer's 12-month credit period; remaining credits then expire. The specific calendar true-up date is customer-specific rather than a statewide date. |
| Residential system cap | No Smart Renewable Energy Export program-specific residential size cap; system size is governed by Hawaiian Electric Rule 14H and technical review. Legacy CGS, CGS+, and Smart Export tariffs were limited to 100 kW and are closed to new enrollment. |
| Commercial system cap | No Smart Renewable Energy Export program-specific commercial size cap; system size is governed by Rule 14H and technical review. Legacy CGS, CGS+, and Smart Export tariffs were limited to 100 kW, while KIUC Schedule Q Modified is available for qualifying facilities of 100 kW or less. |
| Aggregate program cap | No aggregate capacity limit is stated for Hawaiian Electric Smart Renewable Energy Export. Legacy caps remain relevant to grandfathered programs, including Smart Export 38.5 MW for HECO, 16.5 MW for MECO, and CGS+ 104.5 MW for HECO; Battery Bonus caps were 40 MW Oahu and 15 MW Maui. |
| Program status | Smart Renewable Energy Export has no program capacity limit. The legacy Battery Bonus / Scheduled Dispatch Program is closed to new participants; its 40 MW Oahu cap was reached, and the Maui 15 MW program also closed. CGS, CGS+, and Smart Export are closed to new enrollment after March 31, 2024. |
| Regulator | Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (HPUC) |
| Docket | Docket No. 2019-0323 (DER Policies; closed by Order No. 41866 on August 8, 2025); Docket No. 2026-0084 is the open Virtual Power Plant grid-services proceeding for Hawaiian Electric service territories. |
| Governing rule | Hawaiian Electric Rule 32, Smart Renewable Energy Program, under HPUC Decision and Order No. 40418 as modified by Order No. 40670; interconnection is governed by Rule 14H. KIUC uses Tariff No. 1 Schedule Q Modified and Tariff No. 2 Distributed Generation Interconnection Policies and Procedures. |
| Grandfathering | Existing CGS, CGS+, and Smart Export customers are automatically transitioned to SRE Export seven years after their original contract date, with a six-month grace period described in Hawaiian Electric's transition flyer; they do not receive the new-customer seven-year rate lock after transition. Existing NEM and NEM Plus customers are not required to transition. New SRE customers receive a seven-year export-rate lock, then rates update every three years. |
| Interconnection application | Hawaiian Electric customers apply online through the Customer Interconnection Tool (CIT), selecting SRE Export or SRE Non-Export and submitting the required technical and validation materials; BYOD Plus is applied for through CIT (temporarily displayed as BYOD). KIUC customers submit an interconnection request and applicable Schedule Q agreement directly to KIUC for engineering review. |
| Interconnection timeline | Hawaiian Electric's tariff requires written approval within 15 business days after receipt of final governmental inspection approval for the installation; actual review can include completeness, initial technical, and supplemental review. KIUC must notify an interconnection applicant within 20 business days whether the request is complete or incomplete; larger or non-fast-track facilities proceed through study processes. |
| Pending change | HPUC Docket No. 2026-0084 is an open proceeding to design and implement a Virtual Power Plant grid-services program for Hawaiian Electric service territories, with remote dispatch, performance-based compensation, and expanded access under consideration. It may add a battery/DER capacity-payment pathway, but no final VPP compensation rate was verified as of September 16, 2026. |
Rates by utility
State rules set the framework. Individual utilities often pay something different, and where they do the utility tariff governs.
| Hawaiian Electric Company (HECO) — Oahu | $0.135/kWh daytime; $0.329/kWh evening peak; $0.189/kWh overnight 2024-2026 rate table; rates update every 3 years New customers use SRE Export. The listed rate is locked for seven years under a new interconnection agreement. BYOD Plus can add battery grid-service incentives and separate export credits. |
|---|---|
| Maui Electric Company (MECO) — Maui | $0.066/kWh daytime; $0.182/kWh evening peak; $0.131/kWh overnight 2024-2026 rate table; rates update every 3 years New customers use SRE Export; legacy Smart Export and CGS+ are closed to new enrollment. |
| Hawaii Electric Light Company (HELCO) — Hawaii Island | $0.106/kWh daytime; $0.231/kWh evening peak; $0.148/kWh overnight 2024-2026 rate table; rates update every 3 years New customers use SRE Export. Rule 14H governs technical system size and interconnection review. |
| Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (KIUC) — Kauai | Schedule Q Modified: monthly adjusted avoided-cost payment; current 2026 dollar rate not verified Schedule Q Modified uses an annual base rate plus monthly fuel-price adjustment; rate sheet read was effective December 1, 2022 KIUC is a cooperative and is not enrolled in Hawaiian Electric's Smart Renewable Energy program. Its tariff allows qualifying facilities up to 100 kW to sell excess energy under Schedule Q Modified; KIUC also lists a NEM Pilot tariff. |
Sources read for this record
Keep reading
- Every state we track
- How these figures are sourced and dated
- Arizona — Set per utility, not statewide. APS: $0.05554/kWh. TEP: $0.0513/kWh, w
- California — No single statewide export rate. Compensation is set by the CPUC Avoid
- Colorado — No single statewide dollar export rate. Under ordinary net metering, m
- Florida — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh export rate. Monthly net exports ar
- Illinois — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate. For new residential and small
- Massachusetts — No single statewide dollar-per-kWh rate. For ordinary qualifying solar
- New Jersey — One-for-one retail-rate credit against delivered electricity during th
- New York — No single statewide $/kWh rate. The Value Stack is calculated from uti
- Texas — No statewide rate. Published municipal examples include Austin Energy