STAND. COM. REP. NO.  533

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2015

RE:   H.B. No. 1504

      H.D. 2

Honorable Joseph M. Souki

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2015

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce, to which was referred H.B. No. 1504, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENERGY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to find out whether Hawaii's energy public utilities, as structured, appropriately serve the interests of ratepayers and the public.  Specifically, this measure authorizes and funds a study to assess and compare Hawaii's for-profit energy utilities with specific publicly or cooperatively owned energy utilities in the United States.

The State Procurement Office; Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism; and the Legislative Reference Bureau commented on this measure.

     Your Committee has amended this measure by additionally establishing a cap on interconnection costs recoverable by an electric utility from the Hawaii electricity reliability surcharge.  This cap is based on the national average interconnection costs for a comparable interconnection to an electric utility.  Technical, nonsubstantive amendments were also made for clarity, consistency, 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. 1504, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to the Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1504, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

ANGUS L.K. McKELVEY, Chair