Cost of Living

...our monthly premium is going up over $200 – an increase of 34%. To be able to afford health insurance, we are downgrading our health care plan....

Big Island customers could save as much as $113 million on the existing HELCO rate base and up to $234 million including investments to modernize the grid over a four-year period....

At a time of dwindling inventory and rising prices, housing affordability has once again become a hot topic in Hawaii....

The “Residential Home Sales in Hawaii” report summarizes home sale activities in Hawaii recorded for the period from January 2008 to September 2015....

Residential time-of-use rates would be most beneficial for customers who are able to use more electricity during the middle of the day until 4 p.m....

A rate that is higher -- above the existing energy charge rate -- from 4 p.m. to midnight (on-peak hours)....

Raising a family in the Aloha State comes at a high price....

Here's the trick.  The 'second' biofuel plant will soon be the 'only' biofuel plant....

As the sheen wears off of subsidized health coverage, and more Americans find they are paying hundreds per month for coverage that provides few benefits....

In Hawaii annual costs for 4-year-old care are equal to 55.8 percent of minimum-wage earnings....

A study reveals that urban containment, or smart growth policies, have been shown to drive the price of housing up....

There are two approaches to meeting the needs of the least advantaged in society....

...customers in deregulated states and areas can shop around for electric plans....

...Hawaii, California, Oregon, Vermont, Florida and Washington, which adopted some type of restrictive land-use policy over the last 30 years, all experienced some of the largest losses, in terms of home affordability....

Hawaii -- 262.4--Car thefts per 100,000 people -- Nat'l Avg 220.7

...the combination of one of the country's most expensive housing markets and relatively low employment opportunities....

The U.S. already leads the world in carbon emissions reduction thanks to the increased use of natural gas obtained through fracking....

The adjusted cost of living for retired persons in Honolulu is twice as high as it is in Laredo, Texas....

Seattle is the best city in the United States for healthy retirement living, with Minneapolis-St. Paul, Denver, Portland (Oregon) and Hartford rounding out the top five....

...at home using electricity from the grid will be most expensive during peak electricity demand from 3 p.m. to 9 p.m.....

For singles in Honolulu, the highest lifestyle-related costs are clothing and housing....

...and Detroit ranks 14th....

“The high cost of living in Hawaii amplifies the hardship that many of our low-income and poor families face...."

Residential customers now pay roughly $0.17/kWh for fixed costs....

These map changes, primarily for Kaunakakai and south shore areas of Molokai, and Kihei and Waikapu areas on Maui, will become effective on November 4, 2015....

On July 9, Governor Ige signed Senate Bill 555, which will increase the food/excise tax credit for the first time in nearly a decade....

The average monthly consumption of electricity per housing unit in Louisiana is triple that in Hawaii....

Only in Washington DC is $100 more worthless....

Across all metro areas, Urban Honolulu, Hawaii has the highest cost of living, while Danville, Illinois is the least expensive place to live in the country....

Why? Cost of living is the main issue....

For example, the Aina Koa Pono project....

...it is OK that their plan would gut the tourism industry because it would also drive Hawaii's cost of living up to the point where residents could no longer afford to leave....

The median income for families (dad present) with kids younger than 18 adjusted for cost of living is two times higher in the District of Columbia than in Hawaii....

...retirement in Hawaii would require $65,822 annually in disposable income, and (given Hawaii’s relatively high income taxes) pre-tax income of $91,451....

Insurer finds scapegoat--will you be fooled?

Statewide average wage to afford 2 br rental: $31.61 (Highest in USA)

...earnings for small business employees adjusted for cost of living are three times higher in the Houston metro area than in the Honolulu metro area....

Having two accidents in the last two years on your record is the most costly traffic violation....

Hawaii levies the second highest tax burden in the country on its low-income families. A major reason for this is the General Excise tax....

"Affordable Housing Maui Style" - from NewGeography.com....

...Since decoupling, total 'baseline expenditures' increased 229%--from $161M to $368M....

The percentage of people overspending their income is twice as high in Hawaii and Nevada than in Maryland....

The new savings estimators are part of the Hawaiian Electric Companies’ support for electrification of transportation....

Only California (44%) has more households spending at least 30% of their income on housing....

...the SHAKA Movement is now going after the sugar cane industry....

...a new state-by-state comparison puts Hawaii as #1 in terms of the gap between the income residents earn and the cost of housing....

...Hawai‘i has the largest gap in the nation between residents’ income and housing costs, ranking dead last....

“The next round of high prices is likely to start later this year, as crude rebounds to the $80s and $90s, perhaps pushing to the $100 level by late in the year or early next.”

...if prices stay this low, it will take up to four months before electricity prices fully reflect the drop in oil prices....