Hawaiian Electric will cover upfront incentives owed to customers with battery storage systems by the now out-of-business contractor that operated the Home Rewards Battery Program.

What You Need To Know

  • Under the program, operated by Swell Energy, home battery systems were aggregated to create a 'virtual power plant' that fed the electrical grid
  • About 1,200 customers on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Island were enrolled in the program
  • Swell Energy has since gone out of business. HECO said it will pause monthly credits starting next month and work with customers to unenroll in their systems
  • HECO issued a letter to participants informing them that it would pay qualified customers any upfront incentives owed by Swell

“This situation is unprecedented and we appreciate customers’ patience and understanding as we work toward a positive resolution,” said Yoh Kawanami, HECO’s customer energy resources co-director.

Under the program, operated by Swell Energy, home battery systems were aggregated to create a “virtual power plant.”

About 1,200 customers on Oahu, Maui and Hawaii Island were enrolled in the program.

Participants received incentives, including an upfront payment and monthly bill credits.

The company has since gone out of business and HECO is no longer able to receive grid services from the system. HECO said it will pause monthly credits starting next month and work with customers to unenroll in their systems.

HECO issued a letter to participants informing them that it would pay qualified customers any upfront incentives owed by Swell.

Swell was part of HECO’s Power Partnership Program, in which independent companies recruit customers with solar systems, batteries, electric vehicles and other load flexibility devices to aggregate their services to support the grid.

Michael Tsai covers local and state politics for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at michael.tsai@charter.com.