STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2612

Honolulu, Hawaii

RE: S.B. No. 2497

S.D. 1

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirty-Third State Legislature

Regular Session of 2026

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs, to which was referred S.B. No. 2497 entitled:

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

beg leave to report as follows:

The purpose and intent of this measure is to require electric utilities to:

(1) Provide transparent customer bill impact analyses that are accessible to the public in an electronic format;

(2) Include certain information in bill impact analyses; and

(3) Submit annual reports to the Public Utilities Commission.

Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Hawaii Clean Power Alliance and CARES Community Advocacy Research Education Services.

Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Kauaʻi Island Utility Cooperative.

Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Public Utilities Commission, Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs Division of Consumer Advocacy, Office of Information Practices, and Hawaiian Electric.

Your Committees find that electric utilities are required to include modeling and analysis of the impact of proposed energy projects and power purchase agreements on residential ratepayer bills when seeking approvals from the Public Utilities Commission. Your Committees further find that these bill impact analyses typically provide only high-level information when provided to ratepayers, limiting their usefulness for comparison of the impact of different sources of energy generation on electric bills. This measure would increase ratepayer insight into the effect of proposed energy infrastructure projects and power purchase agreements on electric bills.

Your Committees have amended this measure by:

(1) Inserting language to clarify that the Public Utilities Commission shall adhere to the uniform standards for disclosure of government information as described in chapter 92F, Hawaii Revised Statutes, when making disclosed information publicly available;

(2) Inserting an effective date of July 1, 2050, to encourage further discussion; and

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

As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2497, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2497, S.D. 1, and be referred to your Committee on Ways and Means.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce and Consumer Protection and Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs,

________________________________ GLENN WAKAI, Chair

________________________________ JARRETT KEOHOKALOLE, Chair