STAND. COM. REP. NO. 128

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1197

       S.D. 1

 

 

 

Honorable Shan S. Tsutsui

President of the Senate

Twenty-Sixth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2011

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Energy and Environment and Education, to which was referred S.B. No. 1197 entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO ENERGY,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to require the incorporation of alternative energy designs into the construction of, and major renovations to, schools and state facilities for which planning begins on or after July 1, 2011, so that the State may become more energy efficient.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from Christy Imata, Hawaii Solar Energy Association.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from Bruce Coppa, Department of Accounting and General Services.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from Kathryn Matayoshi, Department of Education; and Richard C. Lim, Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.

 

     Your Committees find that increasing the use of alternative energy designs in state facilities will create energy efficiency and lead to savings in the long term.  However, your Committees recognize that it may not be feasible for all new construction and renovation to meet a goal of having ten percent of energy derived from alternative sources, nor to meet this goal by this year.

 

Accordingly, your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Providing that the state departments that are responsible for the design and construction of public buildings and facilities, including schools, shall implement the energy saving designs described in this measure to the fullest extent possible for projects that begin on or after July 1, 2013, rather than on July 1, 2011;

 

     (2)  Deleting the provision requiring that alternative energy use in the newly constructed or renovated state facilities or buildings subject to this measure shall generate a minimum of ten percent of the building's total energy consumption; and

 

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

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Energy and Environment and Education that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1197, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Second Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1197, S.D. 1, and be referred to the Committee on Ways and Means.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Energy and Environment and Education,

 

____________________________

JILL TOKUDA, Chair

 

____________________________

MIKE GABBARD, Chair