Committee disagreements kill renewable energy bills

At the 11th hour on Friday, Sen. Lorraine Inouye (D, Waikoloa-Waimea-North Hilo) derailed two renewable-energy bills by walking away from discussions because her counterpart in the House refused to agree to a bill that would assert the state’s regulatory authority over geothermal development.

One of the shelved energy bills would have clarified the state’s mandate to achieve 100 percent of its electrical generation from renewable resources by 2045. Another bill would have provided a tax credit for batteries linked to rooftop photovoltaic systems.

Inouye killed both measures because Rep. Chris Lee, chairman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, would not agree on Senate Bill 2535. That bill would give the state the power to allow nighttime drilling at geothermal plants on Hawaii island, where nighttime drilling is currently banned by the county.

In a peculiar move, the House passed SB 2535, but only after removing all the content. The House, in other words, sent a blank bill to the conference committee.

“It would have been so much easier if the House just killed the bill,” Inouye told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser after the conference committee hearing. “Do not send us a blank bill. … They had well over a month, and that is the biggest disappointment. We all in the Senate felt there was life to that measure. We were hopeful until today.”

Inouye told Lee it was up to the House to agree on what wording they wanted in the geothermal bill, and because they couldn’t agree, she was killing it and two other energy-related bills.

Lee said previously he sent the blank bill to the conference committee in the hopes that supporters and opponents of the measure would work out their differences without legislative intervention.

Lee declined to comment after the hearing.

Also killed Friday was House Bill 2291. The original version of the bill, introduced by Gov. David Ige’s administration, would amend the state’s renewable-energy goal to clarify that the object is to get 100 percent of Hawaii’s electric power from renewable sources by 2045. The current law still allows for some fossil fuel use by 2045.

HB 2291 included a section that would make solar-powered batteries eligible for the state’s renewable-energy tax credit while decreasing the tax credit for new rooftop solar systems.

The third bill killed Friday was Senate Bill 2738, a measure that would appropriate $50 million for a battery rebate program. The money would come from a program put in place to help low-income residents pay for rooftop solar systems.

Renewable-energy advocates said they were disappointed with Inouye’s actions.

“These were major bills that should have been considered on their merits,” said Robert Harris, Hawaii spokesman for the Alliance for Solar Choice.

“We think it is unacceptable for a senator to walk away from key energy legislation that affects us all,” said Jeff Mikulina, executive director of Blue Planet Foundation, a clean-energy organization that was supporting the bill.

Leslie Cole-Brooks, executive director at Distributed Energy Resources Council of Hawaii, said the energy storage tax credit would help customers who still want to invest in clean energy to get some financial incentive.

“We’re really disappointed,” Cole-Brooks said. “We worked really hard on this. … This is a big setback.”