STAND. COM. REP. 180

Honolulu, Hawaii

, 2003

RE: H.B. No. 10

H.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Second State Legislature

Regular Session of 2003

State of Hawaii

Sir:

Your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 10 entitled:

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES,"

begs leave to report as follows:

The purpose of this bill is to increase consumer awareness of retail electricity services and the fuel choices made by the electric utilities operating in the State by:

(1) Requiring each retail supplier of electricity to disclose fuel mix information to its existing and new retail electric customers; and

(2) Requiring the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to convene a work group to suggest modifications to the disclosure of fuel mix requirements.

Life of the Land and the Hawaii Chapter of the Sierra Club testified in support of this bill. The Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT), PUC, Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc., Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc., and Maui Electric Company, Ltd., supported the intent of this bill. The Division of Consumer Advocacy of the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs commented on this bill.

Your Committee finds that the average customer knows little about the sources of electricity that the utilities provide. This bill will help to increase consumer awareness of the energy options available to them. Your Committee also believes that the work group is necessary to ensure proper implementation and the minimization of costs associated with the fuel mix disclosure requirements.

Your Committee has amended this bill by:

(1) Requiring retail suppliers of electricity to provide annual fuel mix information to DBEDT; and

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

As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 10, as amended herein, and recommends that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as H.B. No. 10, H.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce.

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committee on Energy and Environmental Protection,

 

____________________________

HERMINA M. MORITA, Chair