STAND.
COM. REP. NO. 1205
Honolulu, Hawaii
, 2025
RE: S.B. No. 589
S.D. 1
H.D. 1
Honorable Nadine K. Nakamura
Speaker, House of Representatives
Thirty-Third State Legislature
Regular Session of 2025
State of Hawaii
Madame:
Your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, to which was referred S.B. No. 589, S.D. 1, entitled:
"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY,"
begs leave to report as follows:
The purpose of this measure is to:
(1) Require the Public Utilities Commission to use tariffs for grid services programs, microgrids, community-based renewable energy, and retail wheeling with fair compensation;
(2) Ensure that fair compensation is provided for distributed energy resources exports as part of grid service programs;
(3) Clarify that a person that constructs, maintains, or operates a new microgrid shall not be considered a public utility solely as a result of furnishing service through that new microgrid to participating customers; and
(4) Authorize retail wheeling.
Your Committee finds that the transition away from imported fossil fuels toward renewable energy sources is critical for ensuring the State's energy independence, economic sustainability, and environmental resilience. Your Committee further finds that to ensure grid stability and resilience, the State must invest in grid services programs, microgrids, community-based renewable energy programs, and allow retail wheeling.
Your Committee has amended this measure by:
(1) Adding an installation goal for customer-sited distributed energy resources;
(2) Clarifying that energy exported from customer-sited distributed energy resources as part of a grid service program to the electric grid shall be credited at a rate sufficient to encourage deployment of customer-sited distributed energy resources in order to meet the installation goal;
(3) Clarifying that grid service compensation values shall be sufficient to encourage participation in grid service programs;
(4) Changing the effective date to July 1, 3000, to encourage further discussion; and
(5) 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 Energy & Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 589, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 589, S.D. 1, H.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Consumer Protection & Commerce.
Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection,
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____________________________ NICOLE E. LOWEN, Chair |
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