Bill Text: HI SB64 | 2013 | Regular Session | Amended

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Bill Title: Renewable Energy; Public Utilities Commission; Annual Report

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-02-15 - Report adopted; Passed Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referred to CPN. [SB64 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2013-SB64-Amended.html

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STAND. COM. REP. NO. 440

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 64

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Donna Mercado Kim

President of the Senate

Twenty-Seventh State Legislature

Regular Session of 2013

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Energy and Environment, to which was referred S.B. No. 64 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the Public Utilities Commission to publish contracts, including price information, for the purchase of renewable energy by energy utilities on a publicly-accessible portion of the Commission's website, with certain exceptions.

 

     Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Life of the Land and nine individuals.  Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Public Utilities Commission; and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.

 

     Your Committee finds that all Public Utilities Commission records, including power purchase contracts and related information, are already publicly accessible through its Document Management System, which is accessible via the Commission's website.  The Hawaiian Electric Companies also provide price information for wind and solar photovoltaic power purchase agreements on the Document Management System.

 

     Your Committee further finds that although an important goal of the Commission is to make the regulatory process more transparent and available to all interested parties, the Commission's Document Management System can be difficult to navigate for someone unfamiliar with the Commission's proceedings.

 

     Your Committee additionally finds that an appropriate alternative that encourages transparency while minimizing the impact on the Commission's resources is to require the Commission's annual report to include summary information on all power purchase agreements in effect during the fiscal period of the annual report.  Your Committee notes that the Commission's annual report is available on the Commission's website and is a repository for a wide range of analytical and comparative data presented in a user-friendly format.

 

     Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Requiring the Public Utilities Commission to include in its annual report summary information on all power purchase agreements in effect during the fiscal period of the annual report as an interim measure;

 

     (2)  Delaying implementation of the requirement that the Public Utilities Commission publish all contracts for the purchase of nonfossil fuel generated energy by a public utility on a publicly-accessible portion of the commission's website until July 1, 2016, to give the commission time to make its Document Management System more user-friendly for the general public; and

 

     (3)  Amending the purpose section for consistency.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Environment that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 64, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 64, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Commerce and Consumer Protection.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy and Environment,

 

		____________________________ MIKE GABBARD, Chair