STAND. COM. REP. NO. 520

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 199

       S.D. 2

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 199, S.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to increase the net metering system size cap to two megawatts and to ensure that existing net metering contracts may be maintained even with the introduction of new distributed generation energy procurement programs.

     Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Public Utilities Commission, Kauai Island Utility Cooperative, and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

     Your Committee finds that ensuring that existing net metering contracts may be maintained even with the introduction of new distributed generation energy procurement programs protects the consumers who have entered into these contracts and is not a detriment to the electric utilities.  Your Committee further finds that, with regard to increasing the net metering system size cap to two megawatts, the Public Utilities Commission is working collaboratively with the stakeholders to increase these limits and that legislation is unnecessary at this juncture.

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

     (1)  Deleting section 2, which would have raised the system size limit for net energy metered systems to two megawatts;

     (2)  Amending the purpose section accordingly; and

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 199, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 199, S.D. 2.

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

____________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair