Column: Now is not the time to slash support for solar energy in Hawaii

Hawaii’s renewable energy tax credit is a remarkably successful policy that has lowered average household electric bills by 15% over the last decade. There are few other legislative initiatives that have been so impactful at reducing the cost of living in Hawaii, and more can and should be done to further this success.

Meanwhile, the addition of rooftop solar is essential to the state’s 100% renewable energy mandate in 2045, and reduces our vulnerability to volatile and expensive fossil fuel imports. Hawaii still relies on fossil fuels for more than 75% of its electricity needs, so there is still a long way to go.

And with Hawaii residents and businesses just now beginning to emerge and recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, and needing all the help they can get, now is not the time to slash the credit in half, as proposed by the state Senate.

A Senate committee, in fact, slipped language halving the renewable energy credit into an unrelated film tax credit bill — House Bill 1174 — and did so without notice or outreach to Hawaii’s clean energy stakeholders.

This “penny-wise and pound-foolish” effort jeopardizes thousands of local well-paying jobs as rooftop solar in particular — the target of the cuts — has helped Hawaii’s economy going through the COVID-19 pandemic. But we know from past experience that changes to the credit can have devastating impacts — solar photovoltaic (PV) permits fell more than 50% in 2014 when the credit was last modified. Shutting down a key part of our construction industry won’t help rebuild Hawaii’s post-COVID economy back stronger.

Meanwhile, the projected savings from the measure are minimal. The Senate says slashing the credit will save just $18 million, but the taxable economic activity generated by the rooftop PV industry far exceeds this amount. The Senate proposal would effectively reduce tax revenues while jeopardizing thousands of green jobs.

The local solar industry is also leading efforts to expand access to rooftop solar for underserved communities and low-to- moderate income residents that have not yet been able to install clean, low-cost solar on their rooftops.

Working with a broad group of stakeholders, the solar industry helped to pass a bill to streamline permitting for affordable housing, townhomes and multifamily dwellings. Gutting the tax credit now will raise the cost to achieve Hawaii’s renewable energy transition and deprive some of our most vulnerable communities just when they need our help the most.

As our economy recovers from the deep economic slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, now is not the time to pull back support for struggling families and small businesses that are trying to pay their rent and lower their energy bills. The negative impacts of this measure on construction and investment far surpass any fleeting near-term fiscal benefit, and will only serve to deepen Hawaii’s current economic distress just when vulnerable residents and small businesses are beginning to recover and need our help the most.

Please urge your lawmakers to vote against HB 1174.