STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2078

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2570

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-First State Legislature

Regular Session of 2022

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism, to which was referred S.B. No. 2570 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ZERO EMISSION VEHICLE FUELING REBATES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Rename Hawaii's Electric Vehicle Charging System Rebate Program to the Zero-Emission Vehicle Fueling System Rebate Program; and

(2) Add the installation and upgrade of hydrogen refueling stations to the Zero-Emission Vehicle Fueling System Rebate Program.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii Center for Advanced Transportation Technologies, Hawaii State Energy Office, Hawaii Gas, Alliance for Automotive Innovation, Ulupono Initiative, and one individual. Your Committee received testimony in opposition of this measure from Climate Protectors Hawai‘i and five individuals. Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Public Utilities Commission, Hawai‘i Energy, and one individual.

Your Committee finds that incentivizing the installation and upgrade of available electric vehicle charging stations and hydrogen refueling stations is essential to promoting the growth of electric and hydrogen fuel cell vehicle use in the State, which will then lessen the State's reliance on fossil fuels.

According to testimony submitted by Hawai‘i Energy, which manages Hawaii's Electric Vehicle Charging System Rebate Program (rebate program), the standard rebate levels for a hydrogen refueling station with an estimated baseline cost of $2,000,000 range between $200,000 and $600,000. Your Committee recognizes that an increase in the spending cap of the rebate program is necessary to continue the expansion of electric vehicle charging systems and support both electric and hydrogen fuel cell incentives.

Your Committee notes that the opposition to this measure was based on the inclusion in the rebate program of hydrogen refueling stations that may possibly store and dispense hydrogen fuel produced with fossil fuels. Your Committee further recognizes that hydrogen that is produced with fossil fuels is not therefore a zero-emissions fuel and its inclusion in the rebate program is contrary to the purpose and intent of this measure.

Accordingly, your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Setting the rebate amount for the installation or upgrade of a hydrogen refueling system at $200,000;

(2) Increasing the spending cap of the rebate program from $500,000 to $700,000;

(3) Limiting the rebate to hydrogen refueling systems that do not store and dispense hydrogen fuel that is produced using fossil fuels;

(4) Renaming the rebate program to the Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Rebate Program; and

(5) Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

Your Committee further notes that with the provision to limit the rebate to newly installed or upgraded hydrogen refueling stations that only store and dispense hydrogen fuel that is produced without fossil fuels, the Public Utilities Commission, who administers the rebate program in conjunction with the State Energy Office, may need to develop rules and/or procedures to enforce this provision.

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2570, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2570, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism,

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GLENN WAKAI, Chair