Hawaiian Electric said Friday residential customers may be seeing higher bills than normal for May due to activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic and emergency orders.

One of the reasons relates to the utility scaling back meter-reading in late March due to the pandemic. As a result, bills were estimated based on each customer’s respective usage in the prior month.

The utility restarted meter reading in May and customers are now receiving their true up-to-date bills reflecting power actually used, the utility said. For customers who reduced energy use during the pandemic, the current bill will account for any overestimation from the prior estimated bill. For accounts that increased energy usage, the current bill will account for any underestimation.

The stay-at-home orders also resulted in many residents using more electricity in March, April and part of May, including air conditioners, computers, lights and appliances. On average, residential customers used about 13 percent more electricity, with above-average users consuming as much as 17 percent more.

Lower oil prices mean lower electric rates this summer and should help offset higher usage, depending on how efficiently customers manage their use of air conditioners and other appliances, the utility said.