Cost of Living

...there’s no “latte loophole,” since any quantity of added sugar makes a drink fall under the ban. Indeed, the only way to get more than a pint of drink at a time is to add booze, as adult beverages are excluded ...

... why should an ever-expanding list of business risks be transferred from the utility to its customers? ....

...a proposed bill containing four components that will significantly improve the economic vitality of low and moderate income households....

...the Insurance Division is now providing Hawaii’s 2014 homeowner and motor vehicle premiums comparison guides through its website....

...7,000 well-paid waiters are being played against 7,000 underpaid dishwashers....

FEMA's maps govern whether home and business owners are required to buy flood insurance....

Because HELCO's renewable energy generation output is in excess of the statutory forty percent, HELCO must demonstrate that the project provides cost reduction benefits to ratepayers....

...impacts on gross state product are estimated to be negative (up to -$63 million)....

They are pushing to grow their industry that may increase availability of organic produce but at a cost that most folks can’t afford....

The Clinton Global Initiative recognized WEfficiency as a change-making commitment. And of course: Money shower!....

A barrel of Brent currently changes hands for $109; WTI fetches just $98; HECO pays $132....

Our state’s lower-income families are faced with almost insurmountable structural challenges to escaping poverty....

... Hawaii Appleseed released a report entitled Reimagining Housing in Hawaii, detailing successful affordable housing models like microunits, ohana housing, modular housing, among others....

This UHERO 101 intends to clarify some of the rate and policy aspects of PV in Hawai‘i, and explores the two opposite driving forces of PV adoption....

While an untrammeled water market would fail to provide the optimal solution, regulators can facilitate efficient water trading by setting appropriate exchange rates....

For a 1br-1ba unit, HCDA's falsified estimate sets the "affordable" price at $655K.  Using realistic assumptions the actual affordability price would be $371K--a difference of $284K....

While most states see cuts, Hawaii's 190,000 food stamp recipients will see an INCREASE from $319 to $330 per month....

...impacts to gross state product are negative (up to -$63 million)....

The net cost of electricity that will be generated by the array will be at 10 cents and 13.5 cents per kilowatt hour....

U.S. candy makers are expanding production in other countries as federal price supports and a global glut of the sweet stuff give an ever-greater advantage to foreign rivals....

Board of Water Supply’s (BWS) unfair billing practices  forced thousands of O‘ahu residents to subsidize the errors caused by BWS' own faulty billing system....

The amount of money necessary to buy a 1,000 square-foot apartment in Dallas would only buy a 460 square-foot apartment in Honolulu....

San Jose, $805,000; San Francisco, $705,000; Honolulu, $679,800; Anaheim-Santa Ana, Calif., $670,700; and San Diego, $485,000 ....

Exhaustive Survey of Nearly 2,000 Markets and 52,000 Listings Shows More Than $2 Million Difference in Price Between Malibu and Cleveland....

His monthly bill is normally around $200....

A couple of weeks ago, this commentary examined some of the hurdles that stand in the way of producing more affordable housing....

HBE is a consortium of three of Hawaii's largest landowners and three venture capital companies....

On Wednesday, I introduced a Charter Amendment to eliminate the Board of Water Supply's retroactive billing policy....

...a FREE consumer education competition open to teens in grades 6-12....

UHERO's ongoing research is looking at ways to cost-effectively achieve GHG reduction and meet the state's clean energy goals....

1. Deductibles
   
2. Family rates
   
3. Smokers' rates
   
4. What's not covered

The cost of owned housing rose 75 percent more in areas of higher poverty....

Honolulu City Council member Ron Menor has introduced a resolution to amend city policy on household income thresholds for affordable for-sale and/or rental housing....

there is a glaring paradox as observers decry the shortage of affordable housing ... while at the same time prevent the development of additional affordable housing....

...FEMA has completed revisions to the City’s Digital Flood Insurance Rate Maps that will affect 12 map areas on Oahu....

A story invoking Governor Abercrombie’s war-protester past, has surfaced on Breitbart.com....

The Hawaiian Electric Companies today began a search for suppliers of cleaner fuels, including ultra-low sulfur diesel....

Resolution 13-177 initiates a proposed Charter Amendment....

Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Hawaii, Massachusetts and California lead the nation with the healthiest prospective borrowers, all with scores above 90....

...it is not the cost of the tax that adds to the price of locally grown products as much as it is the external factors such as the cost of land, labor, and regulatory compliance....

Your final charges probably will be higher than shown here because the most highly variable costs are not included: title insurance, title search, taxes, other government fees and escrow fees....

Businesses don't just look at their own costs when deciding where to set up shop. They also look at the costs for their employees....

a thick new blanket of North American oil cushioning the markets....

rising food and housing costs, a challenged public school system and few professional opportunities in a tourist-driven economy....

five states, on average, showed the smallest percentage premium increase by adding a teen driver to an existing auto policy: Hawaii — 18%, North Carolina — 59%....