Hawaii

This case study describes the Green Energy Money $aver (GEM$) On-Bill Program in Hawaii, launched in April 2019 by the Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA). The program provides no-upfront-cost financing for clean energy improvements—such as solar PV and water heaters—for renters, low-to-moderate income households, nonprofits, and small businesses, with repayments made through monthly utility bills.

• The GEM$ program provides on-bill financing for clean energy improvements to approximately 95 percent of Hawaii’s population, covering all 460,000 customers of the Hawaiian Electric Companies (HECO) across the islands of Oahu, Lanai, Maui, Molokai, and Hawaii Island.
• To increase accessibility for low-to-medium income (LMI) households, GEM$ does not use credit scores or debt-to-income ratios for eligibility. Instead, applicants must demonstrate 12 consecutive months of on-time utility bill payments without disconnection notices. Since September 2019, eligibility has been restricted to households with an income below 140 percent of the area median income (AMI).
• The program utilizes a repayment model tied to the utility meter rather than the individual, allowing the obligation to transfer to new tenants or owners. This structure supports repayment periods of up to 20 years with fixed interest rates of 5 percent. To protect LMI customers, projects must be projected to reduce the customer's net annual energy costs by at least 10%, including the monthly charge.
• In its first nine months of operation, the GEM$ program funded $6.6 million in solar PV projects, with 78 percent of those funds going to low-to-medium income customers. This resulted in 1.6 megawatts of installed solar PV and an estimated 12,000 metric tons of avoided greenhouse gases over the panels' lifetime.

APA

Environmental and Energy Study Institute (n.d.). Hawaii. https://www.eesi.org/obf/case-study/hawaii

Chicago

Environmental and Energy Study Institute. Hawaii. n.d. https://www.eesi.org/obf/case-study/hawaii.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Environmental and Energy Study Institute |title=Hawaii |url=https://www.eesi.org/obf/case-study/hawaii |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{environmentalandenergystudyinstitutendhawaii, author = {{Environmental and Energy Study Institute}}, title = {{Hawaii}}, institution = {Environmental and Energy Study Institute}, url = {https://www.eesi.org/obf/case-study/hawaii}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }