The House is expected to pass a bill today that would close a loophole in the definition of the state’s “100 percent renewable energy goal” and prevent Hawaii electric utilities from using any fossil fuel beyond 2045.

The often-touted 100 percent renewable goal that Gov. David Ige signed into law last year is not 100 percent. It actually leaves room for the continued use of oil beyond 2045 because of the way the percentage is calculated.

Since the 100 percent renewable energy goal became law in June, the law has been a popular driver for change in the energy industry, from Hawaiian Electric Co. referencing it in its new power supply plan, and the electric utility’s potential owner NextEra Energy Inc. using the pitch of accelerating the goal to prove it is in the public interest, to environmental groups basing their campaigns to advance renewable energy use on the law.

“We cite this 2045 goal for everything we advocate for in clean energy,” said Marti Townsend, executive director of the Sierra Club. “When we talk about new incentives to help renewable energy resources, it’s all because we have this 100 percent renewable by 2045. It’s a stake in the ground. It’s the reference point for all of our future decisions and we want to make sure there are no loopholes that circumvent or undermine this goal.”

The 100 percent renewable law is based on a calculation that can be broken down to the amount of renewable electrical generation (which includes customer rooftop solar) connected to Hawaii’s grid divided by the amount of electricity the utility sells (not including customer rooftop solar).

Customer rooftop solar is considered renewable electrical generation connected to the grid. Customer solar is not included in the electricity the utility sells.

To fix the flaw, the governor’s office introduced two bills this session that would upgrade the definition to be more apples to apples, replacing the word “sales” with “generation.” The new calculation would be electrical energy generation divided by electrical generation instead of electrical generation divided by energy sales.

“There must be an accurate method of calculating the percentage of renewable energy penetration,” Ige’s office said. The current calculation “results in the misrepresentation of the state’s renewable energy progress.”

Both bills introduced in the Senate and the House seemed unlikely to pass when they were deferred last month. However, House Bill 2291 was revived and passed by the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee on Thursday. Committee Vice Chairman Rep. Angus McKelvey (D, Lahaina-North Kihei) said he revived the bill upon Ige’s request after the Senate unexpectedly deferred its version.

Despite the Senate’s version not moving through, Sen. Lorraine Inouye (D, Kaupulehu-Waimea-North Hilo), chairwoman of the Senate Transportation and Energy Committee, said she has no problem with the language of the House bill that the Consumer Protection Committee passed. Inouye said she supports the change because with the current law “the utility can install zero renewable energy on the grid but they are credited for renewables because the utility has the benefit for taking credit for the solar on rooftops on residential and the commercial.”

Many in the energy community have filed testimony in support of revising the law, including the Department of Transportation; Department of Business, Economic Development &Tourism; Distributed Energy Resources Council of Hawaii; Blue Planet Foundation; Ulupono Initiative; Hawaii Solar Energy Association Inc.; and Maui Tomorrow Foundation.

“Presently, the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) calculation can provide utilities with ‘double credit’ for some distributed energy sources, such as rooftop solar. This leads to the outcome that the calculated RPS can be greater than the actual percentage of renewable energy on Hawaii’s electric grids,” said Blue Planet Foundation in the clean energy organization’s supporting testimony.

Leslie Cole-Brooks, executive director of the Distributed Energy Resources Council of Hawaii, said she supports the bill.

“It’s a matter of getting it fine-tuned,” Cole-Brooks said. “I would like to say 100 percent renewable by 2045 — that is really what it means.”