HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES	H.R. NO.	205
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024
STATE OF HAWAII

HOUSE RESOLUTION

urging hawaiian electric INDUSTRIES and its utility subsidiaries TO REMAIN UNDER LOCAL OWNERSHIP IN THE EVENT OF BANKRUPTCY.

WHEREAS, Hawaiian Electric Industries supplies power to ninety-five per cent of Hawaii's population, serving Oahu, Hawaii Island, Maui, Lanai and Molokai; and

WHEREAS, Hawaii has the highest retail electricity prices in the United States; and

WHEREAS, as a publicly owned company, Hawaiian Electric Industries is obligated to the interests of its shareholders before those of its customers; and

WHEREAS, in the wake of the August 8, 2023 Maui wildfires Hawaiian Electric has become a defendant in a host of class-action and mass-tort lawsuits; and

WHEREAS, Hawaiian Electric Industries has since hired a utility bankruptcy expert as their Chief Financial Officer, highlighting their great financial peril and uncertain future; and

WHEREAS, Hawaiian Electric Industries is at an unprecedented point in its history facing heavy legal and financial pressure; and

WHEREAS, aggressive state goals have been set, specifically pertaining to renewable energy, whose achievement is tied to the capabilities of Hawaiian Electric Industries; and

WHEREAS, in December 2014 a merger between Hawaiian Electric Industries and Florida's NextEra Energy was proposed, and while plans were eventually rejected in July 2016, analysis was sparked during this time to evaluate various ownership models; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that Hawaiian Electric Industries and its utility subsidiaries are urged to remain under local ownership in the event of bankruptcy; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Thirty-second Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2024, that an options analysis of alternative forms of local ownership and regulatory models be conducted considering the impacts of the August 2023 Maui wildfires; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to Hawaii Electric Industries, Hawaiian Electric Company, Maui Electric Company, Hawaii Electric Light Company, the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission, the Hawaii State Energy Office, the Governor of the State of Hawaii, the President of the Hawaii State Senate, the Speaker of the Hawaii State House of Representatives, the Chair of the Senate Committee on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism, the Chair of the House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, the Director of the State of Hawaii Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, and the Mayors of Kauai, Honolulu, Maui, and Hawaii County.

OFFERED BY:

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Report Title:

Hawaiian Electric; Local Ownership; Private Utilities