STAND. COM. REP. NO. 404

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 133

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Colleen Hanabusa

President of the Senate

Twenty-Fifth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2009

State of Hawaii

 

Madam:

 

     Your Committee on Human Services, to which was referred S.B. No. 133 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO UTILITIES,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this measure is to require the Public Utilities Commission to implement a program to achieve lifeline electricity rates for qualified residential electricity customers.

 

     Testimony in support of this measure was submitted by the Hawaii COPD Coalition and two public citizens.  The Public Utilities Commission, the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., support the intent of the measure.  Written testimony presented to your Committee may be reviewed on the Legislature's website.

 

     Your Committee finds that several medical conditions require devices which require electricity to operate.  Many of these conditions are progressive, and individuals may require the use of devices to help them breath while they sleep.  One person testified that their electricity bill increased four hundred dollars for the first month of using an oxygen concentrator.  Without lifeline electricity rates, many patients may find that required medical devices are cost-prohibitive to operate.

 

     Your Committee has amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Deleting the specified qualifications for lifeline electricity rates;

 

     (2)  Requiring the Public Utilities Commission to develop the qualifications for lifeline electricity rates; and

    

     (3)  Making technical, nonsubstantive changes for style.

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Human Services that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 133, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 133, 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 Human Services,

 

 

 

____________________________

SUZANNE CHUN OAKLAND, Chair