STAND. COM. REP. NO. 88-04
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2004
RE: H.B. No. 2966
H.D. 1
Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say
Speaker, House of Representatives
Twenty-Second State Legislature
Regular Session of 2004
State of Hawaii
Sir:
Your Committee on Economic Development and Business Concerns, to which was referred H.B. No. 2966 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ELECTRICITY,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this bill is to encourage government agency production of renewable energy by requiring electric public utilities to transmit electricity produced by a government agency over existing utility transmission lines to other locations owned or operated by the same government agency.
The County of Maui, the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, County of Hawaii Department of Research and Development, several members of the Maui County Council, the Hawaii Chapter of the Sierra Club, the Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and Life of the Land submitted testimony in support of this measure. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and the County of Kauai submitted testimony in support of this measure with amendments. The Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance submitted testimony in support of the intent of this measure. Hawaiian Electric Company submitted testimony opposing this measure.
Your Committee finds that this bill proposes "wheeling," which is when electricity is generated by a non-utility producer and transmitted over electric public utility transmission lines to another location.
Your Committee has amended this bill by:
(1) Giving PUC the discretion to disallow a project that is either detrimental to the electric utility company or not in the public interest, because large-scale wheeling may result in stranded costs which must be subsidized by ratepayers;
(2) Changing the definition of "renewable energy" to make it consistent with an existing definition in Section 269-91, Hawaii Revised Statutes;
(3) Changing the effective date of the bill to July 1, 2050, to allow further discussion on this issue; and
(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments to correct for purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.
As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Economic Development and Business Concerns that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2966, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2966, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Economic Development and Business Concerns,
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____________________________ BRIAN SCHATZ, Chair |
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