THE SENATE

S.B. NO.

2438

TWENTY-SIXTH LEGISLATURE, 2012

S.D. 1

STATE OF HAWAII

H.D. 2

 

 

 

 

 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

 

RELATING TO THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION.

 

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

 

     SECTION 1.  The legislature finds that to implement Hawaii's aggressive renewable portfolio and energy efficiency standards, the State may have to deploy a number of transformational technologies with real benefits, rather than inflated expectations.  Hawaii's electricity ratepayers and tax payers should not have to bear the burden of the integration of potentially costly renewable energy projects or energy efficiency devices that are not technologically feasible or are in their developmental infancy.

     The legislature further finds that many federal agencies already use assessment scales to determine technology readiness to ascertain the amount of risk to assign to a project or program to gauge expectations and outcomes.

     The purpose of this Act is to require the Hawaii natural energy institute to provide a technology readiness assessment of a renewable energy project when requested by the public utilities commission and to prohibit the approval by the public utilities commission of any project or contract for a renewable energy project with an unspecified technology readiness level.

     SECTION 2.  Chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to part V to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

     "§269-    Technology readiness.  (a)  Upon the request of the public utilities commission, the director of the Hawaii natural energy institute shall provide the commission with an analysis of the technology readiness of a renewable energy project.  The analysis shall use the technology readiness levels established by United States Department of Energy assessment guide document number DOE G 413.3-4, as adopted on October 12, 2009, as set forth in paragraphs (1) through (9), to determine the technology readiness level of a renewable energy project: 

     (1)  Technology readiness level 1 means scientific research has begun to be translated into applied research and development.

     (2)  Technology readiness level 2 means practical applications based on observed principles, including experimental work that corroborates basic scientific observations, can be invented.

     (3)  Technology readiness level 3 means active research and development, including analytical studies and laboratory-scale studies, has been initiated.

     (4)  Technology readiness level 4 means the basic technological components have been integrated to establish that the pieces work together as a system.

     (5)  Technology readiness level 5 means the basic technological components have been integrated so that the system configuration is similar to the final application in almost all respects.

     (6)  Technology readiness level 6 means engineering-scale models or prototypes have been tested in an environment that closely resembles the actual operating environment.

     (7)  Technology readiness level 7 means an actual system prototype of the technology is able to be demonstrated in a relevant environment.

     (8)  Technology readiness level 8 means the technology has been proven to work in its final form and under expected operating conditions.

     (9)  Technology readiness level 9 means the technology is in its final form and operates under the full range of possible operating conditions.

     (b)  The public utilities commission shall not approve a proposal or contract with a technology readiness level of   or below.

     (c)  The public utilities commission may consider a proposal or contract with a technology readiness level above level  ; provided that positive external factors, including but not limited to cost to consumers, job creation, capital attraction, and increased state tax revenues are found in its final determination.

     (d)  This section shall not apply to proposals, contracts, or demonstration projects of less than three years with primary purposes for experimental and data collection purposes."

     SECTION 3.  New statutory material is underscored.

     SECTION 4.  This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

 

Report Title:

Public Utilities Commission; Technological Readiness; Hawaii Natural Energy Institute

 

Description:

Sets forth technology readiness levels based upon the U.S. Department of Energy's assessment guide.  Requires the director of the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute to provide the Public Utilities Commission with an analysis of the technology readiness of a renewable energy project, upon the request of the Public Utilities Commission.  Requires the Public Utilities Commission to only consider projects with a technology readiness level of above an unspecified level.  (SB2438 HD2)

 

 

 

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