STAND. COM. REP. NO.  110-08

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                , 2008

 

RE:   H.B. No. 2811

 

 

 

 

Honorable Calvin K.Y. Say

Speaker, House of Representatives

Twenty-Fourth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2008

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection, to which was referred H.B. No. 2811 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENERGY,"

 

begs leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose of this bill is to appropriate funds to the Energy Systems Development Special Fund (Special Fund) for the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (Institute), which is tasked to, among other things, conduct research and development of renewable sources of energy and deploy efficient energy end-use technologies. 

 

     A member of the Hawaii County Council, Hawaii Renewable Energy Alliance, ClearFuels, and Hawaii BioEnergy LLC, testified in support of this bill.  The University of Hawaii System and a concerned individual provided comments.

 

     Act 253, Session Laws of Hawaii 2007 (Act 253), statutorily established the Institute at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.  Act 253 also established the Special Fund to be administered by the Institute for the purpose of developing an integrated approach and portfolio management of renewable energy and energy efficiency technologies that will reduce Hawaii's dependence on fossil fuels and other imported energy resources and move Hawaii toward energy self-sufficiency.  Act 253's portfolio approach was designed to ensure that technologies selected for funding from the Special Fund are those most likely to get into the hands of state end-users as quickly as possible.  However, no contracts specified in Act 253 were developed because Act 253 did not appropriate funds into the Special Fund. 

 

     Your Committee finds that the amount of $10,000,000 is suggested for appropriation into the Special Fund. 

 

     As affirmed by the record of votes of the members of your Committee on Energy & Environmental Protection that is attached to this report, your Committee is in accord with the intent and purpose of H.B. No. 2811 and recommends that it pass Second Reading and be referred to the Committee on Higher Education.

 

 

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

 

 

 

 

____________________________

HERMINA MORITA, Chair