STAND. COM. REP. NO. 586

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2025

RE: H.B. No. 243

H.D. 2

Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura

Speaker, House of Representatives

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2025

State of Hawaii

Madame:

Your Committee on Housing, to which was referred H.B. No. 243, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENERGY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this measure is to:

(1) Require the Public Utilities Commission to establish a streamlined grid-ready home interconnection process; and

(2) Require the Hawaii Electricity Reliability Administrator to submit a report to the Legislature on the streamlined grid-ready home interconnection process.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Tesla; Green Party of Hawai‘i; Hawaii Electric Vehicle Association; Kauai Climate Action Coalition; Sunrun Inc.; 350Hawaii.org; Hawaii Solar Energy Association; Climate Protectors Hawaii; Credence Projects LLC; Photonworks Engineering; Alternate Energy Hawaii; Alternate Energy Hawaii Inc.; Inter-Island Solar Supply; LIMBY Hawaiʻi; and numerous individuals. Your Committee received testimony in opposition to this measure from Hawaiian Electric; Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative; and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 1260. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs and Public Utilities Commission.

Your Committee finds that grid-ready homes represent a low-cost, high-impact solution to expedite the deployment of advanced distributed energy resources, such as paired solar and energy storage, electric vehicle charging, and vehicle-to-grid technologies. By reducing interconnection bottlenecks and costly infrastructure upgrades, this measure enables customers to install grid-interactive clean energy technologies rapidly and affordably.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Specifying that the streamlined grid-ready home interconnection process for grid-tied renewable energy and storage systems is for investor-owned electric utility companies;

(2) Expanding the scope of the grid-ready home interconnection process to include electric vehicle charging;

(3) Removing the cost-sharing fee requirement under the streamlined grid-ready home interconnection process;

(4) Clarifying that the service upgrades are to be paid by the distributed energy resources asset owner;

(5) Requiring that a rule or order for the streamlined grid-ready home interconnection process for grid-tied renewable energy generation and storage systems establishes a process to approve or certify licensed electricians; and

(6) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity, consistency, and style.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Housing that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 243, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it be referred to your Committee on Finance in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 243, H.D. 2.

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

____________________________

LUKE A. EVSLIN, Chair