Report Title:

Revenue Bonds; Solar Energy Facilities and Equipment

 

Description:

Authorizes the issuance of revenue bonds to finance the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, installation, and improvement of solar energy, energy conservation, and renewable energy facilities and equipment for various agencies, departments, and enterprises of the State.

 

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

H.B. NO.

532

TWENTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2003

 

STATE OF HAWAII

 


 

A BILL FOR AN ACT

 

relating to energy.

 

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Findings and purpose. (a) The legislature finds that:

(1) Solar energy facilities and equipment, energy conservation facilities and equipment, and renewable energy facilities and equipment provide viable means to produce safe energy resources for various agencies, departments, and enterprises of the State;

(2) Solar energy technology allows electricity to be generated at the source where it is consumed and consequently provides increased energy independence and diminishes the vulnerability of state facilities where it is installed from rolling blackouts or other failures of the electric grid;

(3) Solar energy offers a clean, silent, and reliable source of energy and produces energy during peak demand;

(4) It is desirable to finance the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, installation, and improvement of solar energy facilities and equipment, energy conservation facilities and equipment, and renewable energy facilities and equipment for various agencies, departments, and enterprises of the State;

(5) There is a need to protect the State from price volatility in energy markets and to provide for diversity in sources and fuels used to provide electricity while providing predictable state energy budgets; and

(6) It is in the best interests of the State to authorize the issuance of revenue bonds and other forms of revenue financing by the State (or one of its agencies, departments, or enterprises) in the principal amount not to exceed $100,000,000 to finance the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, installation, and improvement of solar energy facilities and equipment, energy conservation facilities and equipment, and renewable energy facilities and equipment for various agencies, departments, and enterprises of the State.

(b) Accordingly, the purpose of this Act is to authorize the issuance of revenue bonds in a principal amount not to exceed $100,000,000, to finance the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, installation, and improvement of solar energy facilities and equipment, energy conservation facilities and equipment, and renewable energy facilities and equipment for various agencies, departments, and enterprises of the State.

SECTION 2. Revenue bonds. Pursuant to chapter 39, part III, the department of budget and finance, with the approval of the governor, may issue in one or more series revenue bonds in a total amount not to exceed $100,000,000 for the purpose of financing the acquisition, construction, rehabilitation, installation, and improvement of solar energy facilities and equipment, energy conservation facilities and equipment, and renewable energy facilities and equipment for various agencies, departments, and enterprises of the State in accordance with this Act.

SECTION 3. Bond terms. (a) The department of accounting and general services shall identify, evaluate, and prioritize qualifying projects proposed to be funded from the bonds. Those projects with the highest benefit-to-cost ratio shall be given priority access to these funds, subject to the consent of those state departments, agencies, or enterprises that own or control the facilities or lands on which the improvements or facilities are proposed to be sited.

(b) The principal of and interest on the revenue bonds issued pursuant to section 2 shall be payable solely from and secured solely by the revenues produced and any costs avoided from the solar energy facilities and equipment, energy conservation facilities and equipment, and renewable energy facilities and equipment financed by the bonds.

(c) The proposed improvements and facilities financed by the revenue bonds shall constitute a single, unified, integrated enterprise, and only the revenue produced and any costs avoided by the improvements and facilities shall be pledged to the repayment of the revenue bonds.

(d) The cost that state departments, agencies, and enterprises incur over the life of the technologies shall not exceed the amount that those entities would have otherwise paid absent the improvements and facilities to be financed with the proposed revenue bonds.

(e) The revenue bonds may also be used to finance capitalized interest on the bonds and any other expenses incidental thereto or connected therewith, including engineering, inspection, legal, and fiscal agent fees and costs of the issuance of the revenue bonds.

(f) The rate of interest on the bonds shall not exceed twelve per cent a year, may be fixed or variable, and shall be payable at such times and in such manner as the department shall hereafter determine.

(g) The bonds shall be special, limited obligations of the State, payable exclusively from and secured by a lien on the revenues of the improvements and facilities financed by the bonds and such other funds as may be legally available and pledged for that purpose.

(h) The revenue bonds shall not be secured by the taxing power of the State. The principal of and interest on the bonds and any premiums upon the redemption thereof shall not constitute or evidence a debt of the State, nor a legal or equitable pledge, charge, lien, or encumbrance upon any of its property, or upon any of its income, receipts, or revenues, except the revenues of the improvements and facilities financed by the bonds and such other funds as may be legally available and pledged for that purpose.

SECTION 4. The authorization to issue revenue bonds under this Act shall lapse on June 20, 2005.

SECTION 5. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2003.

INTRODUCED BY:

_____________________________