SB2744

SECTION 1. Chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding a new section to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§269- Community choice aggregation. (a) Customers shall be entitled to aggregate their electric loads as members of their local community with community choice aggregators.

(b) Customers may aggregate their loads through a public process with community choice aggregators, if each customer is informed of their right to opt out of a community choice aggregation program.

(c) A customer who does not opt out shall be served through a community choice aggregation program, if available. If a customer opts out of a community choice aggregation program, or has no community choice aggregation program available, that customer shall have the right to continue to be served by the existing public utility.

(d) If a public agency seeks to serve as a community choice aggregator, it shall offer the opportunity to purchase electricity to all residential customers within its jurisdiction.

(e) A community choice aggregator is authorized to aggregate the electrical load of interested electricity customers within its boundaries to reduce transaction costs to customers, provide consumer protections, and leverage the negotiation of contracts; provided that the community choice aggregator may not aggregate electrical load if that load is served by an electric cooperative. A community choice aggregator may group retail electricity customers to solicit bids, broker, and contract for electricity and energy services for those customers.

(f) A community choice aggregator establishing electric load aggregation pursuant to this section shall develop and file with the commission an implementation plan detailing the process and consequences of aggregation. The implementation plan and any subsequent changes shall be considered and adopted at a public hearing conducted by the commission and shall contain the following:

(1) An organizational structure of the program, its operations, and its funding;

(2) Rate setting and other costs to program participants;

(3) Provisions for disclosure and due process in setting rates and allocating costs among program participants;

(4) Methods for entering and terminating agreements with other entities;

(5) Rights and responsibilities of program participants, including but not limited to consumer protection procedures, credit issues, and shutoff procedures;

(6) Termination of the program; and

(7) A description of the third parties that will be supplying electricity under the program, including but not limited to information regarding financial, technical, and operational capabilities.

(g) A community choice aggregator establishing electrical load aggregation shall prepare a statement of intent to be filed with the commission along with the implementation plan. A community choice load aggregation established pursuant to this section shall provide for the following:

(1) Universal access;

(2) Reliability;

(3) Equitable treatment of all classes of customers; and

(4) Any requirements established by state law or by the commission concerning aggregated services.

(h) A customer purchasing electricity from a community choice aggregator pursuant to this section shall reimburse the public utility that previously served the customer for the following:

(1) The public utility's unrecovered past under-collections for electricity purchases, including any financing costs attributable to that customer, that the commission determines may be recovered in rates; and

(2) Any additional costs of the public utility recoverable in commission-approved rates, equal to the share of the public utility's estimated net unavoidable electricity purchase contract costs attributable to the customer, as determined by the commission, for the period commencing with the customer's purchases of electricity from the community choice aggregator, through the expiration of all then-existing electricity purchase contracts entered into by the public utility.

(i) Estimated net unavoidable electricity costs paid by the customers of a community choice aggregator shall be reduced by the value of any benefits that remain with customers served by a public utility, unless the customers of the community choice aggregator are allocated a fair and equitable share of those benefits.

(j) The commission shall establish by rule the cost recovery mechanism required pursuant to subsection (h).

(k) A public utility corporation shall recover from the community choice aggregator any costs reasonably attributable to the community choice aggregator, as determined by the commission, of implementing this section, including but not limited to all business and information system changes, except for transaction-based costs as described in this subsection. Any costs not reasonably attributable to a community choice aggregator shall be recovered from ratepayers, as determined by the commission. All reasonable transaction-based costs of notices, billing, metering, collections, and customer communications or other services provided to a community choice aggregator or its customers shall be recovered from the community choice aggregator or its customers on terms and rates approved by the commission.

(l) All public utility corporations shall cooperate fully with any community choice aggregators that investigate, pursue, or implement community choice aggregation programs. Cooperation shall include providing community choice aggregators with appropriate billing and electrical load data, including but not limited to electrical consumption data and other data detailing electricity needs and patterns of use, as determined and in accordance with procedures established by the commission.

(m) A county that elects to implement a community choice aggregation program pursuant to this section shall do so by ordinance.

(n) The community choice aggregator shall register with the commission, which may require additional information as needed to ensure compliance with this section and relevant State law.

(o) No community choice aggregation program may be authorized or established until the commission has adopted rules pursuant to chapter 91 necessary to carry out the purposes of this section, including the development of the cost recovery mechanism required pursuant to subsection (h).

(p) As used in this section:

"Community choice aggregator" means any county whose council elects to combine the load of its residents, businesses, and municipal facilities in a community-wide electricity buyers' program. "Community choice aggregator" does not include any county whose customers are served by an electric cooperative.

"Electric cooperative" has the same meaning as in section 269-31.

"Public agency" means any office, department, board, commission, bureau, division, public corporation, agency, or instrumentality of the county government."

SECTION 2. The public utilities commission shall submit a report to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of the regular session of 2024 regarding the community choice aggregators authorized by this Act. The report shall include:

(1) The number of community choice aggregators in the State;

(2) The number of customers served by community choice aggregation programs;

(3) Information on third party suppliers to community choice aggregation programs;

(4) Any compliance issues associated with community choice aggregation programs; and

(5) The overall effectiveness of community choice aggregators, including cost savings to consumers and the overall impact on electricity rates in the State."

SECTION 3. New statutory material is underscored.

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

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2744
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020
STATE OF HAWAII