Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2002

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Energy and Environmental Protection and Consumer Protection and Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 2836 entitled:

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to implement the recommendations of the Energy Efficiency Policy Task Force.

The Energy Efficiency Policy Task Force was formed to recommend to the Legislature, the most cost-effective means to support increased energy efficiency and sustainability in Hawaii.

Specifically, this bill incorporated the preliminary recommendations of the Task Force, as the final report was not completed, to include:

Your Committees amended the bill for discussion purposes to attempt to reflect the final recommendations of the Task Force. These recommendations include:

The proposed bill was then heard and received favorable testimony from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; the Hawaiian Electric Company; the Vice Chair of the Energy Efficiency Policy Task Force; the Gas Company; Inter-Island Solar Supply; the Hawaii Solar Energy Association; the Covanta Energy Group; Pacific Wind Energy, LLC; the Sierra Club; and the Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance. Opposing testimony was submitted by the Department of Taxation and Powerlight Hawaii. The Tax Foundation of Hawaii submitted comments.

Your Committees are concerned with comments expressed in the legislative hearing that objected to the $500,000 tax credit cap proposed in this bill. Your Committees defer this issue to your Committee on Finance to ascertain if a cap is necessary, given the State's fiscal condition. However, should the Committee on Finance find that the economic benefits of the tax credit exceeds the projected revenue loss, your Committees recommend that the caps be removed to realize the benefits as presented in the Task Force's economic analysis.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy and Environmental Protection and Consumer Protection and Commerce that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2836, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2836, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.