SB3026

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	3026
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2020
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

relating to renewable energy.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. The legislature finds that the State should attempt to meet its goals of energy independence through renewable energy by ensuring that every stakeholder, including consumers and producers, play an active role in the process of producing electricity. Solar panels are an acceptable mode of producing electricity, and user-producers of solar electricity are generally homeowners who have installed solar panels on their rooftops. However, current state policies do not adequately incentivize homeowners to conserve or produce more energy at their residences. Requiring electric utilities to compensate homeowners for the kilowatt hours that they produced but remain unused at the end of the year would encourage homeowners to install rooftop solar panels, increase their solar panels, and renew energy. The legislature also believes that producing energy from rooftop solar panels is a more acceptable energy source than windfarms.

The purpose of this Act is to require electric utilities to compensate electricity producers for excess electricity credits remaining at the end of each twelve-month reconciliation period.

SECTION 2. Section 269-106, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§269-106 Billing periods; twelve-month reconciliation. (a) Billing of net energy metering customers shall be on a monthly basis; provided that the last monthly bill for each twelve-month period shall reconcile for that twelve-month period the net electricity provided by the electric utility with[:

~~(1)~~ ~~The~~] the electricity generated by the eligible customer-generator and fed back to the electric grid over the monthly billing [~~period; and~~

~~(2)~~ ~~Any unused credits for excess electricity from the eligible customer-generator carried over from prior months since the last twelve-month reconciliation period.~~] periods.

(b) Credits for excess electricity from the eligible customer-generator that remain unused after [~~each twelve-month reconciliation period may not be carried over to the next twelve-month period.~~] the succeeding twelve-month period shall be purchased by the utility or its designee at the rate of compensation set forth in section 269-108."

SECTION 3. Section 269-108, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:

"§269-108 Net electricity producers; excess electricity credits and credit carry over. At the end of each monthly billing period, where the electricity generated by the eligible customer-generator during the month exceeds the electricity supplied by the electric utility during that same period, the eligible customer-generator is a net electricity producer and the electric utility shall retain any excess kilowatt-hours generated during the prior monthly billing period; provided that the excess electricity generated by the customer-generator, if any, in each monthly billing period shall be carried over to the next month as a monetary value to the credit of the eligible customer-generator, which credit may accumulate and be used to offset the compensation owed the electric utility for the eligible customer-generator's net kilowatt-hour consumption for succeeding months within each twelve-month period; provided further that the electric utility shall reconcile the eligible customer-generator's electricity production and consumption for each twelve-month period as set forth in section 269-106. The eligible customer-generator shall [~~not be owed any compensation~~] be compensated for any excess kilowatt-hours [~~unless the electric utility enters into a purchase agreement with the eligible customer-generator for those excess kilowatt-hours.~~] remaining at the end of any twelve-month period. The compensation owed to the eligible customer-generator shall be calculated at the retail rate of the rate class to which the customer is normally assigned."

SECTION 4. The utility company shall pay 33.3 per cent of the compensation owed under section 3 of this Act in the first year of implementation following the effective date of this Act, 66.6 per cent of the compensation owed under section 3 of this Act in the second year of implementation following the effective date of this Act, and one hundred per cent of the compensation owed under section 3 of this Act from the third year of implementation following the effective date of this Act and in subsequent years.

SECTION 5. This Act does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, and proceedings that were begun before its effective date.

SECTION 6. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 7. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.

INTRODUCED BY:	_____________________________