STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2287

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 3282

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism, to which was referred S.B. No. 3282 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENERGY,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Make the Hawaii State Energy Office a division of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism;

(2) Rename the Chief Energy Officer as the Chief Energy Administrator;

(3) Require the Hawaii State Energy Office to establish a State Energy Plan; and

(4) Make an appropriation to the Hawaii State Energy Office.

Your Committee received testimony in support of this measure from Tigershark, LLC; and two individuals.

Your Committee received comments on this measure from the Hawaii State Energy Office.

Your Committee finds that in chapter 26, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the purview of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT) includes undertaking of energy development and management. Your Committee further finds that classifying the Hawaii State Energy Office as a division within DBEDT, rather than an attached agency, can promote expediency in implementation of renewable energy projects and implementation of a comprehensive State Energy Plan to progress towards the State's renewable energy goals. Further, requiring a Chief Energy Administrator to report directly to the Director of DBEDT will streamline efficiency and help centralize the State's energy policies.

Your Committee has amended this measure by:

(1) Renaming the Hawaii State Energy Office as the Energy Division of the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism; and

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

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. 3282, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 3282, 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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LYNN DECOITE, Chair