Honolulu energy use up after vow to conserve more

HONOLULU, HAWAII - Honolulu's plan to reduce power consumption by 10 percent by 2017 is off to a rough start.

Since city officials announced the plan in 2007, Honolulu's electricity use has climbed nearly 15 percent. It used 194.4 million kilowatt hours of electricity during the fiscal year ending in June — up from 169.3 million kilowatt hours in the 2007 fiscal year.

The city blames the jump on recent upgrades to its Sand Island Waste Water Treatment Plant that were mandated by federal and state agencies. But officials insist that overall energy consumption patterns are going in the right direction.

Meanwhile, Hawaiian Electric Co. says overall electricity use in Oahu, Maui and Hawaii counties during the first half of this year is down 5 percent.