Hawaii Governor Signs Three Energy Bills into Law

On June 25, 2009 Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle signed into law three energy bills designed to promote the development of in-state renewable energy technology and energy efficiency.  One of the laws, HB 1464, extends and increases Hawaii’s current renewable electricity portfolio standard (RPS) to 40% by 2030; the law also increases the interim target for the year 2020 to 25% from a previous target of 20%. In addition, HB 1464 establishes a separate energy efficiency standard for electric utilities designed to achieve energy savings of 4,300 gigawatt hours (GWh) by the year 2030, creates a benchmarking and retrofit system for efficiency improvements in large public buildings, and requires property owners to provide energy efficiency information to consumers prior to the sale or lease of residential properties.

Another law, SB 1202, promotes the use of clean energy vehicles by mandating the creation of reserved parking spaces for them that include electric vehicle charging apparatus. The law orders that 1% of the spaces in parking facilities with one hundred or more spaces be set aside for electric vehicles. This space allocation will increase by 1% for every 5,000 additional electric vehicles registered in Hawaii. SB 1202 also establishes a vehicle purchasing hierarchy for state and county agencies that prioritizes the purchase of clean energy vehicles and a transportation energy transformation grant fund designed to catalyze the development of electric vehicle infrastructure and the purchase of new electric vehicles.

A third law, SB 464, offers incentives for renewable energy, in the form of income tax credits, for private entities.

HB 1464
SB 1202
SB 464
Renewable Portfolio Standards
Energy Efficiency Resource Standards