Following more than two months of debate over a bill that would overturn a Hawaii County law banning nighttime geothermal drilling and assert the state’s regulatory authority over future geothermal development, Senate Bill 2535 is now headed toward a final negotiation session between House and Senate members — devoid of content.

In a highly unusual move, the House of Representatives passed the blank bill on Tuesday, one of hundreds of bills that House and Senate members gave preliminary approval to during an hourslong session known as crossover.

The bill is now set to go to conference committee, where it will be debated by a handful of Senate and House members, without any opportunity for public testimony. If an agreement isn’t reached, the bill will die.

Sen. Lorraine Inouye, who introduced the bill, said that it was “unfortunate” that the bill came out of the House blank. She hopes to have a previous Senate version of the bill reinserted during conference committee.

Inouye (D, Waikoloa-Waimea-North Hilo) said the Senate measure would overturn the county law, while also clarifying that the state controls most aspects of geothermal development and regulation. She stressed that the county would retain zoning authority.

Rep. Chris Lee, chairman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, is the lawmaker who stripped the contents of the bill before it was sent to the full House for a vote. He said he did it in the hopes that supporters and opponents of the measure would work out their differences without legislative intervention.

The bill has inflamed tensions between Puna Geothermal Venture, the sole geothermal operator in the state, and members of Puna Pono Alliance, a citizens group that has fought future geothermal development on Hawaii island and is currently suing the company over its drilling activities.

“What we found was that the core of the issue — talking with both proponents and opponents of the bill — was that there is a possibility that there might be a resolution to the issue that would satisfy both sides of the issue without a bill needing to pass,” Lee said. “So in order to get both sides to actively try to reach that agreement, we wanted to keep the bill alive, but also didn’t want to keep the existing language in it to provide an incentive for people to come to the table and talk.”

Lee (D, Kailua-Lanikai-Waimanalo) said a central issue was getting PGV to reduce the noise level of its drilling.

“Sometimes the best thing the Legislature can do is resolve issues without passing laws and this is an attempt to try to get both sides together to try to do that,” he said.

He noted that he had “a lot of concerns” about removing county authority over geothermal regulation.

However, tensions between PGV and company critics run deep. Robert Petricci, president of Puna Pono Alliance, said he had attempted to forge a compromise with PGV, but he acknowledged that he has no intention of dropping the lawsuit. The group filed the suit last year in Circuit Court on Hawaii island against PGV for drilling at night.

“We think the bill should be killed in conference committee because this bill was special-interest legislation to benefit a corporation at the community expense,” he said.

In December 2012, Hawaii County Mayor Billy Kenoi signed a bill into law that bans geothermal drilling between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. within a mile of a residence.

At the time, there were efforts underway to develop more geothermal energy on Hawaii island. But those efforts have sputtered and PGV remains the state’s only geothermal operator.

The company operates six wells in Pahoa, all within a mile of homes, and plans to begin around-the-clock drilling at one of its wells in the coming days. PGV officials contend that the county law doesn’t apply to them because they received permits for drilling before the ordinance was enacted. They’ve backed SB 2535, which could short-circuit Puna Pono Alliance’s lawsuit.

Company officials say the litigation threatens the safety of its drilling operations.

“For us to stop involuntarily, severely compromises safety — that is our No. 1 position on this and that is the truth,” said Michael Kaleikini, Puna Geothermal’s senior director for Hawaii affairs. “It is our No. 1 concern. To have to stop the drilling process involuntarily, every day, will compromise safety.”

He said halting drilling could increase the chances of groundwater contamination or a well blowout, especially as workers drill deeper.

“If you have a pressure kick or a gas release, the folks that are going to experience it first are the workers who are at ground zero,” he said, noting that releases could also put the nearby community at risk.

The plant currently has a contract with Hawaii Electric Light Co. for 38 megawatts of geothermal power. Energy production from the wells has dropped, necessitating the upcoming drilling.

PGV supplies about a quarter of Hawaii island’s energy needs, helping the state reach its renewable energy targets.

Sen. Russell Ruderman, who has opposed the bill, expressed skepticism about PGV’s safety argument. He said the company may want to drill continuously because it is cheaper.

He said the bill was introduced as a way to sidestep the current litigation and usurp “home rule.”

“I think pre-emption of any county authority is a big mistake,” said Ruderman (D, Puna). “It’s a special-interest bill that benefits one company at the expense of the whole industry. I think it’s a detriment to other potential geothermal developers and a detriment to the community.”

He said that the Senate version of the measure obfuscated the roles of the state and counties in geothermal regulation, rather than clarifying them.