LIHU‘E — The price of crude oil went down and gas consumption in Hawai‘i decreased significantly. But Hawai‘i drivers are paying more for gasoline, according to a report recently released by the state Department of Economic Development and Tourism.
In May, crude oil price decreased both from the same month last year and from the previous month, according to the report. Crude oil price at the New York Mercantile Exchange averaged $94.72 per barrel in May, which was $8.63 less than in April, and 6.6 percent lower compared to May 2011.
Year-to-date (January to May), the price of crude oil was 2.7 percent higher compared to the same period last year.
The statewide consumption of gas, measured by the gasoline tax base, also went down. It decreased 23 percent in March compared to the same period the previous year.
Nationally, gas prices last month followed the drop in crude oil prices. In May, the national average price for gas was $3.71 per gallon, down 4.9 percent from the same period last year.
But not in Hawai‘i, where gas prices were up in May compared to the previous year.
It cost an average of $4.54 per gallon in Hawai‘i in May, which was 3.9 percent higher compared to May 2011.
On the bright side, gas prices in Hawai‘i went down 1.3 percent from April to May.
The slight drop in gas prices in Hawai‘i, however, is obscured by comparing gas prices in Hawai‘i to elsewhere in the nation — it cost 22.5 percent more to fill up a gas tank in Hawai‘i compared to the national average in May.
For Kaua‘i it gets even worse, the average for a gallon of regular gas cost $4.79 in May. Only in Wailuku, Maui, the average price for a gallon of regular gas was higher ($4.89) in the state.
A total of 38 million gallons of gas was consumed in March (the most recent data), of which 6.6 percent was consumed on Kaua‘i, 54.1 percent on O‘ahu, 13.3 percent in Maui County and 26.1 percent in Big Island.
The average price of diesel in Hawai‘i was also significantly higher than the national average in May; 23.8 percent.
It cost an average of $4.97 for a gallon of diesel statewide, and on Kaua‘i it cost $5.13 per gallon — higher than any county in the state.
Consumption of diesel fuel for highway use went down 38.1 percent in March (most recent data) compared to March 2011. Out of the 3.7 million gallons consumed statewide in March, 7 percent was consumed on Kaua‘i, 50.5 percent on O‘ahu, 28.9 percent on Big Island and 13.5 percent on Maui.
In March, aviation fuel distribution statewide was 18.4 million gallons, which represents a decrease of 5.1 million gallons from March 2011. Kaua‘i received 9.3 percent of the aviation fuel, O‘ahu received 46 percent, Maui County received 30.6 percent and Big Island received 14.1 percent.
Charge ‘em up
There are 990,304 gas-powered passenger vehicles registered statewide. Kaua‘i has 72,324 of those cars, even though the population here is approximately 67,000, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Statewide, there are 11,799 hybrid passenger cars, 8,724 diesel-powered passenger cars, 808 electric passenger cars and 250 passenger cars powered by miscellaneous fuel.
On Kaua‘i, there are 643 hybrid passenger cars, 1,029 diesel-powered passenger cars, 24 electric passenger cars and 19 passenger cars powered by miscellaneous fuel. The number of electric cars on Kaua‘i in May represents an 84 percent increase from the same month the previous year.
The number of hybrid cars in May on Kaua‘i represents an increase of 13.6 percent from the same month last year. Kaua‘i, however, is not leading the state on a percentage of increase in electric and hybrid cars.
In Honolulu there has been an increase of 231.9 percent of electric cars in May compared to the same period last year. Hybrid cars there increased 20.7 percent in May compared to May 2011.
Statewide, the number of electric cars in May represents an increase of 160.6 percent compared to the same period last year. The number of hybrid cars statewide in May represents an increase of 19 percent from the same period last year.
Maui County increased by 57.5 percent its fleet of electric cars in May compared to May 2011. But the Valley Island has far more electric cars than Kaua‘i, 115. Hybrid cars on Maui increased 17.9 percent in May compared to May 2011.
The Big Island had an increase of 41 percent of electric cars in May compared to May 2011, adding to 55 electric cars there. Hybrid cars increased 14 percent on Big Island in May compared to May 2011.
Electricity consumption
In April, Kaua‘i’s 28,138 residential utility customers consumed 12.5 million kilowatts per hour, while the island’s 4,643 commercial utility customers consumed 22.08 million kwh. Kaua‘i’s 3,588 street lights consumed 229,726 kwh.
The net revenue for electricity use in April was $5.99 million from residential customers (47.94 cents/kwh), $9,94 million from commercial customers (45.05 cents/kwh) and $143,320 from street lights (62.39 cents/kwh).
The total number of electricity sold in April on Kaua‘i equals 34.81 million kwh, while the total number of energy sent to the grid equals 36.05 million kwh.
Kaua‘i’s main power plant generated 33.3 million kwh, and 32.12 million kwh came from diesel fuel. Other energy sources, such as wind, hydro, steam and electricity purchased from independent power plants added to the grid.
Overall, Kaua‘i consumed 54,375 barrels of diesel oil in April, and the total cost of oil consumed added to $ 7.98 million. While there was a decrease of 9.2 percent in diesel consumption in April compared to April 2011, it cost 5.2 percent more for the oil. Visit hawaii.gov/dbedt/ for more information.
