[Part V.]  Hawaii state energy office

     [§196-71]  Hawaii state energy office; established.  (a)  There is established the Hawaii state energy office, which shall be a public body politic and an instrumentality and agency of the State.  The office shall be placed within the department of business, economic development, and tourism for administrative purposes, pursuant to section 26-35.  The purpose of the Hawaii state energy office shall be to promote energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean transportation to help achieve a resilient clean energy economy.

     (b)  The Hawaii state energy office shall:

     (1)  Provide analysis and planning to actively develop and inform policies to achieve energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy resiliency, and clean transportation goals with the legislature, public utilities commission, state agencies, and other relevant stakeholders;

     (2)  Lead efforts to incorporate energy efficiency, renewable energy, energy resiliency, and clean transportation to reduce costs and achieve clean energy goals across all public facilities;

     (3)  Provide renewable energy, energy efficiency, energy resiliency, and clean transportation project deployment facilitation to assist private sector project completion when aligned with state energy goals; and

     (4)  Engage the private sector to help lead efforts to achieve renewable energy and clean transportation goals through the Hawaii clean energy initiative.

     (c)  The Hawaii state energy office shall be the State's primary government entity for supporting the clean energy initiative.

     (d)  No later than twenty days prior to the convening of each regular session, the Hawaii state energy office shall submit a report to the legislature that includes:

     (1)  A description of the activities of the Hawaii state energy office in response to the directives established pursuant to subsection (b) and section 196-72(d), along with progress in meeting any of the Hawaii state energy office goals established in or pursuant to this part;

     (2)  Progress by the State in meeting its energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean transportation goals; and

     (3)  Proposed legislation, if any. [L 2019, c 122, pt of §2]