Governor signs bill requiring 20 percent renewables by 2020

AP Wire News
June 2, 2004

HONOLULU (AP) _ Gov. Linda Lingle signed legislation Wednesday requiring that 20 percent of all electricity sold in Hawaii come from renewable sources by the year 2020.

Lingle signed the bill at Hawaiian Electric Co.'s fuel cell testing facility, saying it was the fulfillment of a campaign promise. But visibly absent were Democrats who worked on the bill and who said Lingle was taking credit for their success.

"The governor may try to claim it as an administration initiative, but it's something that has been discussed in the Legislature for the last five years," said Rep. Hermina Morita, D-Hanalei-Kapaa, chair of the House Energy and Environmental Protection committee and one of the bill's sponsors. "It's nothing new."

Sen. J. Kalani English, D-East Maui-Lanai-Molokai, who introduced the bill in the Senate, said he would have liked to have been included in the bill signing, but was simply happy to see it passed.

"I worked hard getting them through the Legislature," he said in a telephone interview from his home on Maui. "The bill-signing ceremony is just the cosmetics of it."

Morita shrugged off the snub, explaining "it's an election year."

Lingle said majority Democrats were more a hindrance than a help in getting the bill passed, and that's why she excluded them from the bill signing.

"I don't think a lot of the help on this bill came from the Democrats," Lingle said. "Sometimes we prevail in spite of them and this was one of those times."

Under the new law, Hawaii electric companies must have 8 percent of their net electricity sales come from renewable sources such as solar, wind and wave power by the end of 2005; 10 percent by Dec. 31, 2010; 15 percent by Dec. 31, 2015, and 20 percent by Dec. 31, 2020.

An estimated 7 percent to 8 percent of Hawaii's electricity is already derived from renewable sources, officials said.

Robbie Alm, a spokesman for Hawaiian Electric, the state's largest electricity provider, said the bill would have its challenges, though, because the number of customers and the amount of electricity they use continues to rise, reducing the proportion from renewable energy.

Lingle noted the Public Utilities Commission shoulders much of the responsibility for oversight of the regulations, which are loosely written and relieve a company of compliance with the rules if the PUC determines it can't meet them in a cost-effective manor.

"The bill has a lot of escape hatches," Lingle said. "But I am convinced the intentions of Hawaiian Electric are good."

Lingle also signed four other bills related to energy, including legislation to reduce tax credits for alternative fuels and to clarify previous legislation on tax credits for use of renewable energy.

On the Net:

Hawaii State Legislature: http://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/

Hawaiian Electric Co.: http://www.heco.com/

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