Every day, someone in Hawaiʻi picks up the phone and dials 2-1-1. They’re not sure what else to do. They’re working. They’ve been trying to keep up. But somewhere between the rent, the groceries, and the electric bill, the math stopped adding up.

These are not people who fell through the cracks. They are the people the system was never designed to catch. Aloha United Way calls them ALICE: Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed. They earn too much to qualify for most assistance programs. They earn too little to save anything.

One car accident, one medical bill, one job loss — and they are in poverty. More than a third of Hawai‘i households are in the ALICE category.

When ALICE families call 211, they are usually calling about one of three things. The most common reason is housing: help with rent, with deposits, with keeping a roof in place. The second is food: pantry referrals, help enrolling in SNAP. The third is utilities: keeping the lights on.

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More than 1,900 calls come in every year from families who cannot pay their power bill. That number does not capture the families who are behind but haven’t called yet, or the ones who gave up and paid the bill instead of buying groceries.

LNG Is A Useful Bridge Fuel

Hawai’i’s electricity rates are among the highest in the nation because of an energy system still heavily dependent on imported oil and an energy generation infrastructure that was built for a different era and is approaching the end of its useful life. For ALICE households already stretched thin by rent and food costs, that electric bill hits harder.

We hear a great deal about the promise of solar energy and battery storage. We believe in that promise. Rooftop solar with a home battery is a real solution, and community solar programs – which allow renters and those in apartments to subscribe to shared solar generation plants and receive bill credits – are a meaningful step toward broader access.

These options deserve continued investment and expansion. But they have not yet reached most ALICE families at scale, and the clean energy transition may be decades away. ALICE families are paying electricity bills today and need relief now. Every option for bringing power costs down deserves a serious look.

One such option is liquefied natural gas, or LNG. Proponents argue it is cleaner and more affordable than the oil that dominates Hawai’i’s energy mix today, making it a useful bridge fuel on the path to achieve the state’s legal mandate of 100% renewable energy by 2045.

Some also argue that the infrastructure built for LNG could eventually be adapted to run on hydrogen and other clean fuels as those technologies develop. This should be further researched and evaluated to ensure we’re keeping costs down for Hawai’i’s working families.

The same is true for any option that could move the needle for ALICE households, whether through cleaner energy sources, energy efficiency investments in affordable housing, or direct financial relief through utility bill assistance and low-income rate programs. We need solutions that can deliver real relief soon for the families who are struggling right now.

We are not energy experts. Our role is not to prescribe a single energy or policy solution, but to
ensure that the voices of working families are part of the decisions that affect their daily lives. We are people who answer the phone when Hawaiʻi’s families are in trouble. And what we hear, again and again, is that the cost of living in this state is pushing working people to the edge.

Housing, food, utilities — these are the basics. They should not be out of reach for someone who gets up every morning and goes to work – sometimes multiple jobs.

Solutions Needed

We are asking for two things.

First, that any proposal with a credible path to reducing power costs for working families receive serious consideration from our policymakers and regulators. These proposals deserve to be judged on their merits, especially by those who represent the families who are struggling most.

Second, that reducing the burden of power costs be treated as a real priority. The people who call 211 cannot wait for a ten-year plan. They are making decisions right now about what gets paid and what doesn’t.

They deserve lawmakers who feel the same urgency they do. Hawaiʻi can lead on clean energy and take care of its working families at the same time. Those goals are not in conflict. But getting there requires honesty about where we are today and the courage to consider every serious option on the table.