STAND. COM. REP. NO. 3171

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: H.B. No. 2614

H.D. 1

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2024

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism and Government Operations, to which was referred H.B. No. 2614, H.D. 1, entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO RENEWABLE ENERGY,"

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

(1) Require government entities in the State that issue building permits to implement, by January 1, 2025, SolarAPP+ or a functionally equivalent online automated permitting platform that verifies code compliance and issues permits to licensed contractors for solar distributed energy resource systems in real time; and

(2) Require government entities in the State that issue building permits in areas served by an investor-owned electric utility to adopt a self-certification process for solar distributed energy resource systems that are not SolarAPP+ compatible.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaii State Energy Office; Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority; Ulupono Initiative; Climate Protectors Hawaiʻi; Hawaiʻi Executive Collaborative Climate Coalition; Hawaii Unified Industries, LLC; Sunnova Energy International, Inc.; Greenpeace Hawaii; Hawaii Food Industry Association; 350 Hawaii.org; Sierra Club of Hawaiʻi; Green Party of Hawaiʻi; Hawaii Solar Energy Association, Inc.; Blue Planet Foundation; Citizens' Climate Lobby Hawaii; Green Power Projects, LLC; Inception Financial LLC; Chamber of Sustainable Commerce; Kauai Climate Action Coalition; Hawaiʻi Environmental Change Agents Building Decarbonization Task Force; Sunaru Inc. dba Solar Help Hawaii; Catholic Charities Hawaiʻi; Alternate Energy, Inc.; Tesla; Hawaiʻi Energy; and thirty-four individuals.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Contractors License Board.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the City and County of Honolulu Department of Planning and Permitting and Board of Professional Engineers, Architects, Surveyors, and Landscape Architects.

Your Committees find that the permitting processes can add substantial time and cost to the adoption of residential solar and energy storage projects. Your Committees further find that online permitting tools such as the United States Department of Energy's SolarAPP+ have been successfully implemented by hundreds of government entities that issue building permits throughout the nation, and the State's permit-issuing government entities should similarly take advantage of these tools to help meet the State's clean energy, reliability, and resilience needs. This measure will reduce administrative barriers to the deployment of energy generation and storage technology systems to more efficiently facilitate the transition toward renewable energy in the State.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting an effective date of January 1, 2060, to encourage further discussion; and

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

Your Committees note concerns regarding the uncertainty of security measures with the statewide implementation of SolarAPP+, or a functionally equivalent online automated permitting platform, and the possibility of cyber hackers to access private information. Your Committees further note that the counties are already capable of implementing the adoption of SolarAPP+ or a functionally equivalent online automated permitting platform. Accordingly, your Committees find that these concerns merit further consideration and respectfully request further examination by subsequent committees who may choose to deliberate on this measure as it advances through the legislative process.

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism and Government Operations that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2614, H.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 2614, H.D. 1, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy, Economic Development, and Tourism and Government Operations,

________________________________ ANGUS L.K. MCKELVEY, Chair

________________________________ LYNN DECOITE, Chair