Bill Text: HI HB1583 | 2020 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Relating To Electric Grid Resiliency.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 7-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2020-06-22 - Received notice of discharge of all House conferees (Hse. Com. No. 363). [HB1583 Detail]
Download: Hawaii-2020-HB1583-Amended.html
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
H.B. NO. |
1583 |
THIRTIETH LEGISLATURE, 2019 |
H.D. 2 |
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STATE OF HAWAII |
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A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO ELECTRIC GRID RESILIENCY.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that Hawaii's residents and businesses are vulnerable to disruptions in the State's energy systems caused by extreme weather events or other disasters. In 2017, Puerto Rico was devastated by Hurricane Maria, leaving a majority of the island's residents without power for months after the storm made landfall.
The legislature further finds that, if a disaster of similar magnitude impacted Hawaii, having some shelters equipped to continue to provide backup power independent of the electric grid while recovery efforts are underway will greatly increase disaster preparedness.
In many areas of Hawaii, public school structures have also served as designated shelters during hurricane warnings and other disaster events. In 2016 as part of an effort to air condition more schools while keeping utility bills in check, the legislature created a goal for the State's public schools to become net-zero in regards to energy use by the year 2035. Following this, many schools have begun to install renewable energy systems in order to meet this goal. However, the department of education has no directive or incentive to install systems that are sized or designed to both meet the daily electricity needs of a school during normal operations, and to function as a backup power system for a disaster shelter that can operate independently from the grid at times. Although there is an additional cost associated with the installation of such a system, it would also provide value to the utility and its customers by increasing disaster preparedness and by providing ancillary services to the grid during regular operations.
Therefore, the legislature finds that it will be beneficial to create incentives for the department of education to invest in such systems, and to encourage the public utilities commission to consider allowing an interconnection agreement with the utility that credits or refunds schools for the grid services provided to help cover the additional cost of installing systems specifically designed to offer grid services to the grid, whether in the form of ancillary services or more broadly supporting public resilience.
Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to:
(1) Require the department of education to establish a pilot program in which various schools are provided with renewable energy systems that are capable of providing backup power in the event of a natural disaster or other similar emergency; and
(2) Require the public utilities commission to consider
ways to incentivize the installation in public schools of renewable energy
systems that can provide backup power in the event the broader electric grid
cannot provide power.
SECTION 2. Section 302A-1510, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended to read as follows:
"[[]§302A-1510[]] Sustainable schools initiative. (a)
The department shall establish a goal of becoming net-zero with respect
to energy use, producing as much renewable energy as the department consumes
across all public school facilities, by January 1, 2035.
(b) The department shall use the amount and value of energy consumed by the department across all public school facilities during the 2015-2016 fiscal year as the benchmark for measuring the department's progress toward the energy usage goal set forth in subsection (a).
(c) The department shall submit an annual report that shall include information on:
(1) The overall progress toward the net-zero energy goal set forth in subsection (a);
(2) Its plans and recommendations to advance the net-zero energy goal set forth in subsection (a); and
(3) Any challenges or barriers encountered or anticipated by the department in meeting the net-zero energy goal set forth in subsection (a).
(d) The department shall expedite the cooling of all public school classrooms to a temperature acceptable for student learning. When implementing classroom cooling measures, the department, and any contractor hired to implement classroom cooling measures, shall maximize energy efficiency and installation and operating cost savings over the entire life of the project.
(e) Pursuant to this section, the department shall include in the report the status of the implementation of measures taken to cool public school classrooms as required by subsection (d). The report shall include the following information:
(1) The number of completed classrooms in which cooling measures were implemented and the number of classrooms remaining that require cooling;
(2) The different types of cooling measures implemented;
(3) The approximate cost per classroom for planned cooling measures, including installation, upgrades, equipment, maintenance, and projected operating costs over the life of the installed cooling measures;
(4) The approximate cost per completed classroom for cooling measures implemented, including installation, upgrades, equipment, maintenance, and projected operating costs over the life of the installed cooling measures;
(5) The number of completed classrooms in which energy efficiency measures were installed or implemented and the number of classrooms remaining that require energy efficiency measures; and
(6) The different types of energy efficiency measures installed or implemented.
(f)
The department shall establish and implement a pilot program in at
least four schools in which the schools are provided with renewable energy
systems that are capable of continuously providing backup electrical power, to
be sourced from renewable energy, in the event that the electric grid cannot provide
power. The department shall select
schools that are likely to be designated as emergency shelters in the event of
a natural disaster. In selecting the renewable
energy systems, the department shall consider, among other things, a system's
capacity for generating and providing energy to the electric grid over the
lifetime of the system.
(g) The department shall report its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the legislature no later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session."
SECTION 3. The public utilities commission shall consider ways to incentivize the installation in public schools of renewable energy systems that can provide backup power in the event the broader electric grid cannot provide power in its current and ongoing proceedings.
SECTION 4. Statutory material to be repealed is bracketed and stricken. New statutory material is underscored.
SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2050.
Report Title:
DOE; PUC; Electric Grid; Renewable Energy; Sustainable Schools Initiative
Description:
Requires
the Department of Education to establish a pilot program in 4 schools to
install renewable energy systems capable of providing backup power in the event
of a natural disaster or other similar emergency. Requires the Public Utilities Commission to consider
in its current and ongoing proceedings ways to incentivize the implementation
of renewable energy systems in public schools.
(HB1583 HD2)
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not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.