STAND. COM. REP. 159

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 1032

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 1032 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to eliminate the long delays in negotiating a contract between nonfossil fuel producers and public utilities by requiring the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to develop and adopt a standard form of a power purchase contract.

Life of the Land, Sierra Club, Hawaii Chapter, and the Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance testified in support of this bill. The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism supported the intent of this bill.

PUC, Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Hawaii Electric Light Company, and Maui Electric Company opposed this bill. Covanta Energy Group and the Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs commented on this bill.

Your Committee finds that, currently, there is no standard form of a power purchase contract for nonfossil fuel producers of electricity to use in selling generated electricity to public utilities. Your Committee further finds that it may take these producers more than five years to negotiate a power purchase contract with the public utilities. Your Committee believes that this measure will assist producers who would like to conduct business in Hawaii.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Giving PUC an unspecified deadline to develop and adopt one or more standard forms of power purchase contracts;

(2) Requiring that the provisions in the standard form contract be as specific as possible but designed to accommodate a variety of renewable energy resources, technical and other variables based on site location, or other project specific factors, and key provisions such as price and contract duration;

(3) Removing the provision that would have allowed an aggrieved nonfossil fuel producer to seek redress against the PUC for failing to develop and adopt the standard form contract; and

(4) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for purposes of style and clarity.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 1032, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 1032, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committees on Consumer Protection and Commerce and Judiciary.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection,

 

____________________________

HERMINA M. MORITA, Chair