STAND. COM. REP. NO. 1120

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2005

RE: S.B. No. 1003

S.D. 2

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2005

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 1003, S.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NET ENERGY METERING,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to allow eligible customer generators of any capacity to participate in the net energy metering program.

The measure also provides a schedule for incrementally increasing the total amount of generating capacity that an electric utility is obligated to accept from eligible customer generators.

With respect to the maximum allowable capacity for customer-generators and the total capacity that a utility must accept from customer-generators, your Committee finds that the Public Utilities Commission should be allowed to increase these capacity amounts, by rule or order, above the floor set by statute. Your Committee also finds that monthly billing should be retained. However, credits for excess electricity produced by the eligible customer-generator should be carried over to the next month as a monetary value to the credit of the eligible customer-generator, which credit may accumulate and be used within each twelve-month period.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Increasing the maximum allowable capacity for customer generators to not more than three hundred kilowatts, and authorizing the Public Utilities Commission, by rule or order, to increase this maximum allowable capacity amount;

(2) Allowing the Public Utilities Commission to set and increase, by rule or order, the maximum percentage of the electric utility's peak system demand that may be produced by eligible customer-generators; provided that the maximum percentage shall not be less than .5 per cent of the utility's peak system demand;

(3) Authorizing the Public Utilities Commission to amend the applicable rate structure and standard contract or tariff;

(4) Retaining monthly billing; provided that the excess electricity generated by the customer-generator, if any, in each monthly billing period shall be carried over to the next month as a monetary value to the credit of the eligible customer-generator. This credit may accumulate and be used to offset the compensation owed the electric utility for the eligible customer-generator's net kilowatt-hour consumption for succeeding months within each twelve-month period;

(5) Requiring the electric utility to provide the eligible customer-generator with a twelve-month reconciliation of the eligible customer-generator's consumption and production of energy;

(6) Clarifying that credits for excess electricity from the eligible customer-generator that remain unused after the twelve-month reconciliation may not be carried over to the next twelve-month period; and

(7) Making technical nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1003, S.D. 2, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1003, S.D. 2, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection,

 

____________________________

HERMINA MORITA, Chair