STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2321

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE:    S.B. No. 2820

       S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

Sir:

     Your Committees on Transportation and Energy and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health, to which was referred S.B. No. 2820 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to amend the definition of renewable portfolio standard to more accurately reflect the percentage of renewable energy penetration in the State.

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Department of Transportation, Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism; Distributed Energy Resources; Blue Planet Foundation; and Hawaii Solar Energy Association.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Public Utilities Commission and Hawaiian Electric Company.

     Your Committees find that to fully meet the objectives of Act 97, Session Laws of Hawaii (SLH) 2015, establishing the one hundred percent renewable portfolio standard (RPS) by 2045, and Act 38, SLH 2015, aspiring for greater energy security and self-sufficiency through the reduction and ultimate elimination of Hawaii's dependence on imported fuels for electrical generation, an accurate method for calculating RPS must be used to accurately represent the percentage of renewable energy penetration in Hawaii.

     Your Committees have amended this measure upon the recommendation of the Hawaii State Energy Office by:

     (1)  Amending the purpose section to more accurately reflect the purpose and intent of this measure;

     (2)  Adding a definition of "grid-connected" to chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes;

     (3)  Amending the definition of "renewable portfolio standard" by amending the renewable portfolio standard calculation and properly account for customer-sided, grid-connected resources, and making conforming amendments to section 269-92, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

     (4)  Requiring that all electric grid-connected energy systems be one hundred percent renewable energy systems by December 31, 2045.

     Your Committees have also made technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of clarity and consistency.

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Transportation and Energy and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2820, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2820, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Transportation and Energy and Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health,

________________________________ ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair

________________________________ LORRAINE R. INOUYE, Chair