Stay tuned! We're compiling the appendices for our renewable tax credit study, peer-reviewed and updated from last spring with comprehensive analysis and demographic information on PV adopters. Meaty stuff.

The 2012 legislative session ended May 3, with mixed results for clean energy. The main three key actions taken by the legislature with Blue Planet’s support were passage of the Hawaii Electricity Reliability Administrator and the interisland cable regulatory bill, and confirmation of Mike Champley and Lorraine Akiba to the Public Utilities Commission.

Hawaii Electricity Reliability Administrator (HERA)
The priority clean energy policy this session was SB 2787, which establishes the Hawai‘i Electricity Reliability Administrator, or HERA. As more independent power producers and distributed energy systems plug into the grid, they face numerous technical, operational, and regulatory issues presented by Hawai‘i's century-old electrical system. These obstacles hinder interconnection and compromise reliability, stifling the potential of renewable energy production. The HERA policy establishes formal, objective, and verifiable reliability and interconnection standards for Hawai‘i’s electricity grids. Having an independent entity—not the electric utility—
set the “rules of the road” for reliability and interconnection would enable increased integration
of renewables and greater system predictability and resiliency. Senate Bill 2787 passed 74-1-1.

Interisland Cable Regulatory Structure
Senate Bill 2785 establishes a regulatory structure for the installation and implementation of an interisland high-voltage electric transmission cable system, bringing it under the governance of the PUC. Having a regulatory framework for the implementation of an interisland cable system will ensure more certainty and oversight in the development process. Hawaii’s islands have varying amounts of technologically acquirable renewable energy resources and an uneven distribution of electricity demand based on population and economic activity. Maui, for example, has surplus wind energy at night, while Oahu has an expanding fleet of electric vehicles that could put that energy to work. Legislation to establish a regulatory framework for the implementation of an interisland cable system can provide more certainty, stability, and oversight in the development process. By providing structure for a statewide electrical grid we can get the most out of our state's abundant solar, wind, and geothermal energy resources. Senate Bill 2785 passed 67-9 (although 15 “with reservations”).  
 
Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Appointments
The Senate confirmed the nominations of both Michael Champley and Lorraine Akiba to the PUC. We believe both will be strong advocates for aggressive clean energy regulatory policy. Mike Champley served as Blue Planet’s expert consultant for two years. During his work with Blue Planet, Champley was instrumental in identifying and suggesting modifications to practices that impede the integration of renewable energy. Champley understands the complex economic, institutional, and operational changes that must happen to enable Hawai‘i’s clean energy transition. Lorraine Akiba will bring broad experience (in public and private law sectors) and energy to the PUC while balancing the skills and expertise of the existing commissioners.  
 
Other Legislative Issues
Unfortunately, we were unable to advance some other key issues this session. Policies that fell by the wayside included reallocation of the barrel tax (and expansion to include coal), renewable energy tax credit reform, and additional PUC policy guidance (related to curtailment provisions and variable rate of return for renewable integration).  

In particular, Blue Planet spent a good deal of effort in a measure to reform the renewable tax credit, largely in response to proposed bills that would have severely reduced the credit. The challenge has been the “success” of the existing 35% credit and the explosive growth of residential and commercial PV (as well as the utility-scale
wind). It’s estimated that the credit could cost the state budget upwards of $60 million this year and
much more in 2013.

Blue Planet took a couple of approaches to this threat. First, we asked former UH economist Thomas Loudat to analyze what the credit yields to the state in terms of job creation, income tax, GET, oil savings, and other ancillary benefits. An op-ed, co-authored by Jeff Mikulina and Thomas Loudat, was published in the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. We then worked on formulating a new incentive structure for the tax credit—one that converts most of the more substantial incentives from investment credits to production credits (rewarding the actual renewable kWh instead of the equipment cost). This also had the effect of spreading the credit over 10 years, reducing the one-year budget hit. We made some other changes as well, ratcheting back the residential and commercial PV from 35% to 20% over 3 years, eliminating the confusing “system” caps, and sunsetting the credit in 2018 (providing a predictable glide path for the industry). Although the tax credit reforms didn’t pass this session, we had good agreement among legislative leadership and most of the key players in the renewable energy industry, setting us up for next session.

Click the bill links to read our testimony. Check progress of these measures on our bill status page. Read more about our legislative priorities for 2012.

Mar. 30 | 5p | House Committee on Finance, Room 308
SB 2785 SD2 HD1  Establishes regulatory structure for installation and implementation of an interisland, high-voltage, electric transmission cable system

Mar. 30 | 9:30a | Senate Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, Room 229
HB 425 HD3 SD1 Requires PUC to consider costs and benefits of a diverse energy portfolio and of maximizing the efficiency of all electric utility assets to lower and stabilize cost of electricity

Mar. 29 | 5:30p | House Committee on Finance, Room 308
SB 2288 SD1 HD1  Limits renewable energy tax credit per property

Mar. 29 | 2:35p | House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, Room 325
SB 2438 SD1 HD1 DBEDT technology analysis for deployment of renewable projects

Mar. 29 | 9a | Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Room 211
HB 2417 HD2 SD1 Modifies renewable energy tax credit

Mar. 29 | 9a | Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Room 211
HB 2760 HD2 SD1 Strengthens Hawaii's "complete streets" policy and prohibits mopeds on bicycle paths

Mar. 29 | 9a | Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Room 211
HB 2262 HD2 SD1  Expands the ethanol facility tax credit to include other liquid biofuels

Mar. 29 | 9a | Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Room 211
HB 2544 HD2 SD1  Requires the PUC to implement best practices in the areas of regulatory frameworks, rules and procedures, and information technology and public access, and appropriates funds for such purposes

Mar. 29 | 9a | Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Room 211
HB 2626 HD2 SD1 Establishes safe routes to schools program

Mar. 29 | 9a | Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Room 211
HB 1726 HD1 SD1  Aligning the repeal date for the energy systems development special fund with that of the environmental response, energy, and food security tax

Legislative hearing schedule for Wednesday, Feb. 29 and Thursday, Mar. 1
Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith... easy to justify today.

Feb. 29 | 9:30a | Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Room 211
SB 2512 SD1  Reallocates barrel tax and renames Hawaii Economic Development Task Force

Mar. 1 | 9:30a | Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, Room 229
GM 648  Confirmation hearing for PUC Commissioner nominee Michael Champley

Click the bill links to read our testimony. Check progress of these measures on our Read More

Legislative hearing schedule for Tuesday, Feb. 28
HB 2417 is the big one today...

Feb. 28 | 11a | House Committee on Finance, Room 308
HB 2262  HD1 Expands the ethanol facility tax credit to include other liquid biofuels

Feb. 28 | 2p | House Committee on Finance, Room 308
HB 2417  HD1 Limits claimable tax credit on renewable energy systems

Feb. 28 | 2p | House Committee on Finance, Room 308
HB 2259  Establishes hydrogen safety codes and standards

Feb. 28 | 9a | Senate Committee on Ways and Means, Room 211
SB 2512 SD1  Reallocates barrel tax and renames Hawaii Economic Development Task Force

Feb. 28 | 10a | Senate Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection, Room 229
SB 2966 SD1  Increases the allowable system size for net-metered systems to two megawatts for state facilities and one megawatt for other systems

Click the bill links to read our testimony. Check progress of these measures on our bill status page. Read more about our legislative priorities for 2012.

Hearing schedule for Tuesday, Feb. 14
Put a little love in your heart!

Feb. 14 | 9:35a | House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, House Committee on Housing, Room 325
HB 2799 Reduces ability of condo owners to install EV charging stations on their property

Feb. 14 | 2:55p | Senate Committee on Energy and Environment, Room 225
SB 2038 Makes clarifying amendments and improvements to Solar Roofs Act

Read more about our legislative priorities for 2012. Click the links to see our testimony.

Hearing schedule for Wednesday, Feb. 8

Feb. 8 | 8:15a | House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, House Committee on Agriculture, Room 312
HB 2262 Expands ethanol facility tax credit to include other liquid biofuels
HB 2834 Extends the sunset date for the Hawaii Economic Development Task Force

Feb. 8 | 1:15p | Senate Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, Room 224
SB 3040 Exempts car sharing organizations from the rental vehicle surcharge for hourly rentals

Feb. 8 | 2p | House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, Room 325
HB 2490 HD1 Seeks to greater renewable energy adoption by reducing the level of imputed debt assumed by electric utilities when entering into power purchase agreements
HB 2525 HD1 Authorizes PUC to perform necessary electric system reliability and grid access oversight functions and allows the Commission to contract for the services of a Hawaii Electricity Reliability Administrator (HERA)

Feb. 8 | 3:10p | Senate Committee on Health, Senate Committee on Energy and the Environment, Room 229
SB 2292  Restricts the permitting of new coal-fired power plants in Hawaii

Read more about our legislative priorities for 2012. Click the links to see our testimony.

The bell has rung, and the 2012 Hawaii state legislature is now in session. The hearing schedule is jam-packed with some key measures that Blue Planet will comment on. (Read more about our legislative priorities for 2012.) Click the links to see our testimony. If you're interested in tracking the progress of bills, please refer to our policy initiatives pages, which will be updated throughout the session.

Feb. 7 9a House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, Room 325
HB 425 HD1 Requires PUC to consider diverse portfolio of fossil fuels
HB 2259 Establishes hydrogen safety codes and standards
HB 2484 HD1 Clarifies EV registration rules and codifies existing incentives
HB 2485 HD1 Amends law requiring designated EV parking spaces

Feb. 6 9a House Committee on Transportation, Room 309
HB 2626 Establishes Safe Routes to School Program within Department of Transportation funded through a surcharge for certain traffic violations

Feb. 6 1:17p Senate Committee on Transportation and International Affairs, Senate Committee on Energy and Environment, Room 224
SB 2747 Amends law requiring designated EV parking spaces
SB 2746 Clarifies EV registration rules and codifies existing incentives

Feb. 2 10a House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, Room 325
HB 2400  Seeks to bifurcate Hawaii's main electric utility company into a transmission and distribution company and generating assets

Jan. 31 8:15a House Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, Room 325
HB 2525 Authorizes a Hawaii Electricity Reliability Administrator (HERA) and authorizes PUC to perform necessary electric system reliability and grid access oversight functions
HB 2490 Reduces the level of imputed debt assumed by electric utitilies when entering into power purchase agreements
HB 2041 Reduces curtailment of renewable power sold to public utilities and enables independent power producers to sell to other customers