STAND. COM. REP. NO. 556
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2005
RE: H.B. No. 1018
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 H.B. No. 1018 entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO NET ENERGY METERING,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to broaden the availability of net energy metering.
The bill accomplishes this by:
(1) Allowing eligible customer-generators with a capacity of not more than five hundred kilowatts to participate in the net energy metering program; and
(2) Providing for an annual billing period for net energy metering customer-generators, rather than a monthly billing period.
Increasing the eligible capacity amount for net energy metering participation from not more than fifty kilowatts to not more than five hundred kilowatts will allow additional customer-generators to participate in the net energy metering program. This may include small businesses, such as farms and other agricultural enterprises, and multi-family unit properties. Changing the billing period from monthly to every twelve months will allow customer-generators to size their net-metered systems to take advantage of monthly fluctuations in output that are typical of some renewable resource systems.
Your Committee received testimony in support of the measure from the Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance, Powerlight Solar Electric Systems, Inter-Island Solar Supply, and the Hawai'i Chapter of the Sierra Club. The Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., the Public Utilities Commission, and the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism testified in support of the intent of the measure.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Amending all pertinent provisions of the net energy metering law to conform with the proposed twelve-month billing period;
(2) Clarifying with respect to the proposed twelve-month billing period, that "[f]or all customer-generators and for each billing period, the net balance of moneys owed to the electric service provider for net consumption of electricity or credits owed to the customer-generator for net generation of electricity shall be carried forward as a monetary value until the end of each 12-month period";
(3) Clarifying that the electric utility, upon the request of an eligible customer-generator, shall permit that customer to pay monthly for net energy consumed;
(4) Clarifying that when an eligible customer-generator terminates the customer relationship with the electric utility, the electric utility shall reconcile the eligible customer-generator's consumption and production of electricity by applying the requirements of part VI of chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes, to the months since the most recent twelve-month bill; and
(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for 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 H.B. No. 1018, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1018, 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,
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____________________________ HERMINA MORITA, Chair |
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