From www.Bateman2012.com  

Have you looked at your electric bill lately? It just keeps going up and up. And, now, HELCO has just asked government to allow them another rate increase even though the company is making record profits. What’s up with that!

Hawaii suffers form the highest energy rates in the country - $.46/KWh on Hawaii Island compared to the average energy price in the US of $11.4/KWh. This is due to the high cost of oil which has increased from $26 per barrel 20-years ago to as high as $120 per barrel today. If this were not enough, recent legislation introduced by my opponent increased the tax per barrel of oil--sending our costs even higher.

Hawaii imports about $5 Billion dollars in fuels per year, 40% of which goes to generate electricity. At the very least the electricity portion of these costs should be converted to renewable energy sources such as solar, geothermal and wind—resources we have in abundance.

It is possible to reduce our high energy rates from $.46/KWh back down to $.20/KWh where they were 12-years ago. Current plans by HECO call for 70% renewable energy by 2030. I say 100% should be the goal and the sooner the better. Attaining this goal would put over $2 Billion dollars back into our local economy to increase our standard of living.

We as individuals can become energy providers with solar electric systems, eventually replacing HECO's oil based generation. Battery and fuel cell storage programs will store energy for night-time use. We can do this if only we have the will and commitment of elected officials to make it happen. I will work tirelessly for this goal.

Click here to read my full position paper on Energy.

Absentee and Walk-In voting is about to begin. Please help me to reach out to your friends and neighbors by supporting me with a gift of $25 or more to win this election.

I look forward to hearing from you with any questions you may have.

Mahalo Nui Loa,

Dave Bateman

Candidate for HD5