SCR166 • 2026

REQUESTING THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION TO MAKE CERTAIN JUDGMENTS, CONSIDERATIONS, AND DECISIONS WHEN MAKING ANY DETERMINATION RELATING TO A GENERATIONAL ENERGY COMMITMENT FOR THE STATE.

Energy

Active

The official status still shows this bill as active or still awaiting another formal step.

Sponsor: LEE, C.
Last action: 2026-05-11
Official status: Received notice of Senate agreement and Adoption (Sen. Com No. 821).
Effective date: Not listed

Plain English Breakdown

Using official source text because the generated explanation was unavailable or could not be confirmed against the official bill text.

REQUESTING THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION TO MAKE CERTAIN JUDGMENTS, CONSIDERATIONS, AND DECISIONS WHEN MAKING ANY DETERMINATION RELATING TO A GENERATIONAL ENERGY COMMITMENT FOR THE STATE.

What This Bill Does

REQUESTING THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION TO MAKE CERTAIN JUDGMENTS, CONSIDERATIONS, AND DECISIONS WHEN MAKING ANY DETERMINATION RELATING TO A GENERATIONAL ENERGY COMMITMENT FOR THE STATE.
Public Utilities Commission; Liquefied Natural Gas; Cost Approval

Limits and Unknowns

This entry is temporarily using official source text because the generated explanation could not be confirmed against the official bill text during the last sync.

Amendments

These notes stay tied to the official amendment files and metadata from the legislature.

HD1

Hawaii published version HD1

Plain English: SCR166 HD1 THE SENATE S.C.R.

SCR166 HD1 THE SENATE S.C.R.
NO.
166 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 S.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII H.D.

SD1

Hawaii published version SD1

Plain English: SCR166 SD1 THE SENATE S.C.R.

SCR166 SD1 THE SENATE S.C.R.
NO.
166 THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026 S.D.
1 STATE OF HAWAII SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION requesting the public utilities commission to make certain judgments, considerations, and decisions when making any determination relating to a generational energy commitment for the State .

Bill History

2026-05-11 H
Received notice of Senate agreement and Adoption (Sen. Com No. 821).
2026-05-11 H
Received notice of reconsideration (Sen. Com. No. 821).
2026-05-08 S
Resolution adopted in final form.
2026-05-08 S
Senate agrees with House amendments.
2026-05-08 S
Reconsideration of action taken on 4-27-26 in disagreeing to the House amendments.
2026-04-27 H
Received notice of disagreement (Sen. Com. No. 780).
2026-04-27 S
Senate disagrees with House amendments.
2026-04-27 S
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 835).
2026-04-24 H
Transmitted to Senate.
2026-04-24 H
Adopted as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Kapela excused (1).
2026-04-24 H
Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2246-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending adoption.
2026-04-22 H
The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 11 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Grandinetti, Chun, Ilagan, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Kong, Lowen, Marten, Tam, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
2026-04-20 H
Resolution scheduled to be heard by CPC on Wednesday, 04-22-26 2:00PM in conference room 430 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-04-20 H
Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on CPC with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Alcos, Cochran, Woodson excused (3).
2026-04-20 H
Reported from EEP (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 2219-26), recommending referral to CPC.
2026-04-17 H
The committee on EEP recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Lowen, Perruso, Chun, Kahaloa, Kusch, Matsumoto; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Quinlan.
2026-04-15 H
Resolution scheduled to be heard by EEP on Friday, 04-17-26 10:05AM in conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.
2026-04-10 H
Referred to EEP, CPC, referral sheet 28
2026-04-09 H
Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 495) in amended form (SD 1).
2026-04-09 S
Report and Resolution Adopted, as amended (SD 1). Transmitted to House.
2026-04-08 S
One Day Notice 04-09-26.
2026-04-08 S
Reported from CPN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 3522) with recommendation of adoption, as amended (SD 1).
2026-04-02 S
The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in CPN were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, McKelvey, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Lamosao.
2026-03-25 S
The committee(s) on CPN deferred the measure until 04-02-26 9:30AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.
2026-03-20 S
The committee(s) on CPN has scheduled a public hearing on 03-25-26 10:01AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.
2026-03-19 S
Referred to CPN.
2026-03-16 S
Offered.

Official Summary Text

REQUESTING THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION TO MAKE CERTAIN JUDGMENTS, CONSIDERATIONS, AND DECISIONS WHEN MAKING ANY DETERMINATION RELATING TO A GENERATIONAL ENERGY COMMITMENT FOR THE STATE.
Public Utilities Commission; Liquefied Natural Gas; Cost Approval

Current Bill Text

Read the full stored bill text

SCR166

THE SENATE

S.C.R. NO.

166

THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026

STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

requesting the public utilities commission to ensure that
certain conditions are met before approving any infrastructure, operations,
maintenance, fuel, or other costs relating to supplying and using liquefied
natural gas
.

����
WHEREAS, the
State must ensure that any consideration of importing natural gas into Hawaii
is conducted in a manner that protects ratepayers, advances clean energy goals,
and safeguards long-term economic and environmental interests; and

����
WHEREAS, proponents
of natural gas have asserted that its use would reduce electricity costs and
greenhouse gas emissions relative to imported petroleum; and

����
WHEREAS, sufficient,
transparent, and verifiable evidence has not been provided to substantiate
these claims; and

����
WHEREAS, long-term
investments in natural gas infrastructure may expose ratepayers to significant
financial risks, including stranded asset costs, fuel price volatility, and
long-term contractual obligations that could inflate electricity costs; and

����
WHEREAS, Hawaii
has established a statutory mandate to achieve one hundred percent renewable
portfolio standards by 2045; and

����
WHEREAS, substantial
new investment in fossil fuel infrastructure may undermine progress toward this
goal and divert capital, policy focus, and market signals away from the
development of indigenous, renewable energy sources; now, therefore,

����
BE IT
RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii,
Regular Session of 2026, the House of Representatives concurring, that the
Public Utilities Commission is requested to ensure that the following
conditions are met before approving any costs of infrastructure, operations,
maintenance, fuel, or other costs relating to supplying and using liquefied
natural gas:

����
(1)
�
All liquefied natural gas infrastructure costs
shall be fully amortized no later than 2045, and utility customers shall not be
obligated to pay the costs of any stranded investments;

����
(2)
�
Any power purchase or fuel supply agreement
shall not include any volumetric commitments or take-or-pay requirements for
fuel supplies and shall include provisions for supplies declining to zero no
later than 2045;

����
(3)
�
Any power purchase or fuel supply agreement
shall not result in increased costs for customers in the counties of Hawaii,
Kauai, or Maui, including costs arising from downstream effects of changing
fuel supplies or suppliers for those counties; and

����
(4)
�
Any approval shall include protections for
customers from fuel price volatility, including but not limited to provisions
for the utility to share in fuel price changes, which shall begin at no less
than ten percent and shall increase over time in line with declining fuel
supply volumes; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to deny any costs
related to liquefied natural gas if more cost-effective, non-fossil-fuel
alternatives are available to a utility or if approving the power purchase or
fuel supply agreement would commit a utility to purchasing a greater amount of
liquefied natural gas than necessary to accommodate the maximum amount of
renewable energy on the grid; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to consider the
effects of approving the use of liquefied natural gas on renewable energy
development and deployment, including risks and costs of diverting attention
and resources away from maximizing present and future cost savings from
renewable energy sources when making determinations of the reasonableness of
costs pertaining to electric or gas utility system capital improvements and
operations; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to consider the
risks and costs of stranded assets and the risks and costs of reliance on a
single fuel supply or monopoly supplier when making determinations of the
reasonableness of costs pertaining to electric or gas utility system capital
improvements and operations; and

����
BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the
Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Executive Director of the Division
of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs; Chief
Energy Officer of the Hawaii State Energy Office; Chairperson of the Public
Utilities Commission; and President and Chief Executive Officer of Hawaiian
Electric.

OFFERED BY:

_____________________________

Report Title:
�

Public
Utilities Commission; Liquefied Natural Gas; Cost Approval