The Locavore Store

Seeds of Partnership Grow into to Enduring Harvest

Hilo-based grocery store, The Locavore Store, supports local farms and businesses by providing a centralized location for Hawai’i-grown foods and goods. When COVID-19 hit, leading to increased payroll costs and additional expenses for PPE and cleaning supplies, they needed to find a way to cut costs. They were using window AC units, which were not only extremely inefficient, costing a lot of money to cool such a large space, but their units also had to be replaced every two years. An Energy Relief Grant enabled them to upgrade to a much more efficient split AC system, which will save them money for years to come.

Owner Catarina Zaragoza, said “I just wanted to say thanks, again, for your help with the HI Energy grant program. We were awarded funding to upgrade our AC from a window unit to an energy star certified mini-split system, which was installed in early November. We just got our first electric bill since this upgrade and it decreased more than 30% compared to the previous cycle. We were shocked and thrilled. So, mahalo nui to all of you for helping make that possible!”


About Hawaii Energy

Hawaii Energy helps island families and businesses make smart energy choices. We encourage and reward energy decisions that will allow our state to reach 100% clean energy faster and cheaper. To date, we have saved the people of Hawaii more than a billion dollars off their energy bills. Let Hawaii Energy be your trusted energy advisor to help save you money and protect what makes Hawaii so special. For more information, please visit hawaiienergy.com/about.