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HB785
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
H.B. NO.
785
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2025
STATE OF HAWAII
A BILL FOR AN ACT
RELATING TO ENERGY-EFFICIENCY PORTFOLIO STANDARDS
.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:
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SECTION 1.
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The legislature finds that, as Hawaii
progresses toward achieving its renewable energy and decarbonization goals,
energy efficiency remains the most cost-effective way to reduce emissions
associated with electricity generation and consumption, while providing
financial benefits for customers.
�
The
legislature also finds that, in 2008, the State, in partnership with the United
States Department of Energy, established the Hawaii clean energy initiative,
which included goals for energy efficiency.
�
Subsequently, Act 155, Session Laws of Hawaii
2009, codified these energy efficiency goals by establishing an
energy-efficiency portfolio standard under section 269-96, Hawaii Revised
Statutes, which sets the statewide energy efficiency goal for 2030 at four
thousand three hundred gigawatt hours and directs the public utilities
commission to establish interim goals for 2015, 2020, and 2025.
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Now, more than fifteen years later, the
legislature further finds that it is appropriate to extend these goals and ensure
that the public utilities commission can continue its work developing and
overseeing the State's energy-efficiency portfolio standards beyond 2030.
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The purpose of this Act is to extend
and further develop the energy-efficiency portfolio standards established and
overseen by the public utilities commission.
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SECTION
2
.
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Section
196-62.5, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsection (b) to
read as follows:
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"(b)
�
As may be applicable, an agency shall consult
with the public benefits fee administrator of the commission prior to planning
an energy-efficiency measure subject to this section.
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The agency's proposed energy-efficiency
measures shall meet or exceed the public benefits fee administrator's enhanced
efficiency levels and requirements to be eligible for the Hawaii green
infrastructure loan program.
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The agency
shall coordinate with the public benefits fee administrator throughout the
entire project
cycle to ensure that energy efficiency is maximized.
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All supporting documentation required by the
public benefits fee administrator shall be provided by the agency to ensure
compliance with the State's energy-efficiency portfolio [
standard
]
standards
under section 269-96."
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SECTION
3
.
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Section 269-96,
Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by amending subsections (b) through (e) to
read as follows:
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"
(b)
�
The energy-efficiency
portfolio standards shall be designed to achieve [
four thousand three
hundred
]
six thousand
gigawatt hours of [
electricity use
reductions
]
cumulative persisting electricity savings
statewide by [
2030;
]
2045;
provided that the commission shall establish interim goals for
electricity use reduction to be achieved by 2015, 2020, [
and
] 2025
,
2030, 2035, and 2040,
and may also adjust the [
2030 standard
]
2045
and interim standards
by rule or order to maximize cost-effective
energy-efficiency programs and technologies.
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For the purposes of this subsection,
"cumulative persisting electricity savings" means the total electric
energy savings in a given year from measures installed in that year or in
previous years, but no earlier than January 1, 2009, that are still operational
and providing savings in that year because the measures have not yet reached
the end of their useful lives.
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(c)
�
The commission may establish
, by rule or order,
incentives and
penalties based on performance in achieving the energy-efficiency portfolio
standards [
by rule or order
].
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(d)
�
The public utilities commission shall evaluate the energy-efficiency
portfolio [
standard
]
standards
every five years, beginning in
2013, [
and may revise the standard, based on the best information available
at the time,
] to determine if the energy-efficiency portfolio [
standard
]
standards
established by this section [
remains
]
remain
effective and achievable[
.
]
and may revise the standards, based on
the best information available at the time.
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The commission shall report its findings and revisions to the
energy-efficiency portfolio [
standard,
]
standards,
based on its
own studies and other information, to the legislature no later than twenty days
before the convening of the regular session of 2014, and every five years
thereafter.
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(e)
�
Beginning in 2015, electric energy savings brought about by the use of
renewable displacement or off-set technologies, including solar water heating
and sea-water air-conditioning district cooling systems, shall count toward [
this
standard.
]
these standards.
"
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SECTION 4.
�
Statutory material to be repealed is
bracketed and stricken.
�
New statutory
material is underscored.
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SECTION 5.
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This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
INTRODUCED BY:
_____________________________
Report Title:
Energy-efficiency
Portfolio Standards; Extension; Public Utilities Commission
Description:
Extends
the State's energy-efficiency portfolio standards from 2030 to 2045 and updates
the standards.
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Authorizes the public
utilities commission to adjust the 2045 and interim standards.
The summary description
of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is
not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.