STAND. COM. REP. NO.734
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2001
RE: H.B. No. 173
H.D. 2
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-First State Legislature
Regular Session of 2001
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committees on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs, to which was referred H.B. No. 173, H.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY RESOURCES,"
beg leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to establish a market for the State's significant renewable energy resources, with an emphasis on solar electric production, by:
(1) Requiring qualified electric utility companies (QEUC) to implement a renewables portfolio standard with the following percentages of renewable energy resources within their overall resource portfolios:
(A) 7.0 percent by January 1, 2003;
(B) 8.0 percent by January 1, 2005;
(C) 9.0 percent by January 1, 2007; and
(D) 10.5 percent by January 1, 2010;
(2) Requiring the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to establish and administer a program to issue renewable energy credits to renewable energy generators;
(3) Requiring a QEUC to have its solar electric production capacity equal to at least .25 percent of its gross utility generating capacity by January 1, 2011; and
(4) Providing twice the renewable energy credits for solar electric energy production.
The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; Apollo Energy Corporation; Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance; Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter; Inter-Island Solar Supply; and an individual submitted testimony in support of the bill.
The Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Division of Consumer Advocacy, and the Environmental Center of the University of Hawaii at Manoa submitted testimony in support of the intent of the bill.
PUC; Hawaiian Electric Company and its subsidiaries, Maui Electric Company and Hawaii Electric Light Company; Ogden Energy Group, Inc.; Kauai Electric; and Life of the Land submitted comments.
After considering the diverse testimony, your Committees have amended this measure by:
(1) Leaving blank all specified percentages to ensure further discussion on this matter, which is of great concern to the environment and people of Hawaii;
(2) Changing the effective date to January 1, 2050, to facilitate further discussion; and
(3) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 173, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 173, H.D. 2.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Judiciary and Hawaiian Affairs,
|
____________________________ ERIC G. HAMAKAWA, Chair |
____________________________ KENNETH T. HIRAKI, Chair |