STAND. COM. REP. NO.  510

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2007

RE:   H.B. No. 1338

      H.D. 1

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2007

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 1338 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT MAKING EMERGENCY APPROPRIATIONS FOR THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER ADVOCACY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this bill is to ensure reliable electric service for consumers by making emergency appropriations for the Division of Consumer Advocacy (Consumer Advocate) of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs to investigate the power outages that occurred on October 15, 2006, on the islands of Oahu, Maui, and Hawaii.

     The Consumer Advocate and Public Utilities Commission (PUC) testified in support of this bill.

     Following the major power outages triggered by the Kiholo Bay Earthquakes on October 15, 2006, the Consumer Advocate requested PUC to open a formal investigation into whether Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., and its subsidiaries acted reasonably and in the public interest prior to and during the power outages.  Your Committee finds that this measure will enable the Consumer Advocate to conduct an independent analysis complementing PUC's ongoing investigation.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Changing the appropriation amounts to unspecified sums, to encourage further discussion; and

     (2)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for clarity and style.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1338, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1338, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Finance.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce,

____________________________

ROBERT N. HERKES, Chair