STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3431

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    H.B. No. 2661

       H.D. 2

       S.D. 2

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

Madam:

     Your Committee on Ways and Means, to which was referred H.B. No. 2661, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO SPECIAL PURPOSE REVENUE BONDS TO ASSIST INDUSTRIAL ENTERPRISES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose of this measure is to authorize the issuance of special purpose revenue bonds to assist Hui Mana ‘Oma‘o to establish facilities to convert renewable energy resources into electrical energy for consumption by the general public.

     Hui Mana ‘Oma‘o, LLC. submitted testimony in support of this measure.

     Hui Mana ‘Oma‘o is dedicated to developing and operating renewable energy projects to deliver electricity to Hawaii's franchised electric utility companies.  Hui Mana ‘Oma‘o is proposing to harness two different renewable resources, each of which would independently provide intermittent power.  However, the combination of both resources, in conjunction with a state-of-the-art automated dispatch, advanced technical monitoring, short-term electrical storage technologies, or shared utilization of utility-provided regulating reserve will produce grid-quality power to Oahu's utility network.  Your Committee finds that this measure will help to reduce the State's dependence on fossil fuels and the issuance of special purpose revenue bonds for this project is in the public interest.

     Upon further consideration, your Committee has amended this measure by clarifying that the combining of two or more intermittent renewable energy resources for the purpose of enhancing the reliability of the resulting electrical energy produced constitutes a project as defined in part V, chapter 39A, Hawaii Revised Statutes, and the financing thereof is assistance to an industrial enterprise.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Ways and Means that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2661, H.D. 2, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2661, H.D. 2, S.D. 2.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Ways and Means,

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair