STAND. COM. REP. NO. 867

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 1000

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Thirtieth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2019

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 1000, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

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

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to prohibit, on or after January 1, 2020, the issuance of building permits for all new residential multi-family buildings that have ten or more parking stalls and new commercial buildings that have twenty or more parking stalls unless at least twenty percent of the parking stalls are electric vehicle charger ready.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.; Oahu County Committee on Legislative Priorities of the Democratic Party of Hawaii; Young Democrats of Hawaii; Blue Planet Foundation; Ulupono Initiative; Tesla; Elemental Excelerator; and five individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Retail Merchants of Hawaii, Building Owners and Managers Association of Hawaii, and one individual.  Your Committees received comments on this measure from the Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism.

 

     Your Committees find that Hawaii is second to California in the number of electric vehicles per capita and electric vehicles are the fastest growing segment of new cars in the State.  High population density areas are ideal for electric vehicles because residents typically have shorter driving distances.  According to testimony received by your Committees, Hawaiian Electric's Electrification of Transportation Roadmap projects that at least fifty-five percent of cars on the road in 2045 will be electric.  However, one of the barriers to owning an electric vehicle is the lack of charging infrastructure.  More than eighty percent of electric vehicle drivers charge their cars at home or at work.  Your Committees further find that installing electric vehicle infrastructure at the time of construction can be ninety-one percent less expensive than post-construction retrofits.  This measure allows for the expansion of electric vehicle charging options in new residential and commercial buildings and is a fiscally prudent way for the private sector to "future-proof" new construction projects for the expected increase in electric vehicles.

 

     Your Committees also find that, by using stored energy, electric vehicles can take advantage of intermittent solar, wind, and other clean energy resources.  Most vehicles sit idle for over twenty-two hours per day, so they become de facto energy storage devices if their batteries are plugged into the grid when they are not in use.  With smart grid infrastructure in place, electric vehicles are an essential component to electricity load and clean energy resource balancing.  This measure therefore supports the State in its goal toward one hundred percent clean energy by 2045.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by 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, Consumer Protection, and Health and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 1000, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 1000, S.D. 2.

 


Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Commerce, Consumer Protection, and Health and Ways and Means,

 

________________________________

DONOVAN M. DELA CRUZ, Chair

 

________________________________

ROSALYN H. BAKER, Chair