Bill to fix ‘renewable’ goal deferred

Two state Senate committees voted Friday to defer a bill that would fix a flaw in the state’s “100 percent renewable energy goal” that allows Hawaii electrical utilities to continue using fossil fuel beyond 2045.

The 100 percent renewable law is based on a calculation that can be broken down to the amount of renewable electrical generation connected to Hawaii’s grid divided by the amount of electricity the utility sells. To fix the flaw, the bill proposes to replace the word “sales” with “generation.” The new calculation would be electrical energy generation divided by electrical generation instead of electrical generation divided by energy sales.

The Senate Committee on Transportation and Energy and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and Health deferred the bill.

Before the bill crossed over from the House, Sen. Lorraine Inouye (D, Kaupulehu-Waimea-North Hilo), chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Transportation and Energy, said she had no problem with the language of the House bill that the Consumer Protection Committee passed.

Inouye said she changed her mind after speaking with some of the testifiers.

“I took advice from the Public Utilities Commission as well as other testifiers,” Inouye said. “We deferred it, but I would like for all of them to get together and work it out with the administration — not only the utility, but other utilities like the gas company and the solar energy industry — for them to come up with clear language.”

Inouye said the state needs to review the entire policy.

“When you make the necessary changes, there is unintended consequences,” Inouye said. “My recommendation was for (the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism) to work with everybody and come up with something good next year so we can live with it. … I agree with a lot of the things that HECO (Hawaiian Electric Co.) is saying. They’re doing all of these changes, and we’re not even giving them time to take a breath.”