Blue Planet Foundation, which has been working on a broader on-bill financing program, applauded the decision in a press release. 

On Tuesday, the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) ruled to suspend the “Simply Solar” proposal recently submitted by the Hawaiian Electric utility companies. The proposal—which surprised many observers because of its timing—sought PUC approval within sixty days for a $55 million, narrow on-bill repayment program for solar water heaters.

The Commission concluded that the “Simply Solar” program “amounts to a pilot on-bill financing program” and specified that the program’s costs “do not appear to be cost effective to ratepayers, requiring adjustment.” Designating it a “subset” of the current on-bill financing review in progress, the Commission did not reject the Simply Solar program but instead ordered that it be considered as a potential “interim option” as part of the examination of a broader, more cost-effective statewide on-bill repayment program for Hawai‘i in an already opened PUC regulatory proceeding.