Utilities see solar panels as threat to power lines and bottom line

Honolulu

ALLAN AKAMINE has looked all around the winding, palm tree-lined cul-de-sacs of his suburban neighbourhood in Miliani here on Oahu and, with an equal mix of frustration and bemusement, seen roof after roof bearing solar panels.

Mr Akamine, 61, a manager for a cable company, has wanted nothing more than to lower his US$600 to US$700 monthly electric bill with a solar system of his own. But for 18 months or so, the state's biggest utility barred him and thousands of other customers from getting one, citing concerns that power generated by rooftop systems was overwhelming its ability to handle it.

Only under strict orders from state energy officials did the utility, the Hawaiian Electric Company,…