STAND. COM. REP. NO.  765

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 Finance, to which was referred H.B. No. 1504, H.D. 2, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENERGY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to discover 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.  Additionally, this measure imposes a cap on interconnection costs that is based on national averages.  

Hawaii Solar Energy Association provided testimony in support of the measure.  The Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, State Procurement Office, Public Utilities Commission, Legislative Reference Bureau, and Hawaiian Electric, and its subsidiary utilities Maui Electric and Hawaii Electric Light, provided comments.

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Finance that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1504, H.D. 2, and recommends that it pass Third Reading.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Finance,

____________________________

SYLVIA LUKE, Chair