Hawaiian Electric Co. has signed a new contract with Covanta, the company that burns the majority of Oahu’s garbage and turns it into energy to supply the electric utility. 

HECO will pay six cents to 16 cents per kilowatt hour, with an added 5 cents per kwh during the peak hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. 

The landfill recently underwent an expansion and will be supplying about 6 percent of the island’s electricity. 

From a HECO press release: 

The original power purchase agreement was signed in 1986 and the 46-megawatt H-POWER plant has been generating electricity since 1990 with a two boiler, solid waste-to-energy plant. Starting construction in 2009, H-POWER has added a third boiler, combustion train and associated air pollution control equipment, turbine generator, cooling equipment and electrical interconnection equipment that will increase total capacity to 73 megawatts.