Bill > HB243

This bill establishes a comprehensive framework for streamlining the interconnection process for grid-ready homes in Hawaii, with the goal of supporting the state's transition to 100% renewable energy by 2045. The bill defines a "grid-ready home" as a residential property equipped with clean electrification technologies like electric vehicle chargers, heat pumps, photovoltaic systems, and batteries. It requires the Public Utilities Commission to create a new interconnection process by October 1, 2026, which includes a simplified notification and approval system for distributed energy resources, a cost-sharing mechanism for service upgrades, mandatory two-week processing times for interconnection requests, provisions for managed power export/import, virtual commissioning protocols, and requirements for utilities to update interconnection rules to support vehicle-to-grid technologies. The bill also mandates that the Hawaii Electricity Reliability Administrator provide annual reports to the legislature detailing the performance of this new interconnection process, including metrics such as the number of customers served, interconnection timelines, fees collected, and infrastructure upgrades avoided. The underlying purpose is to make clean energy adoption easier, more transparent, and more efficient for Hawaiian homeowners while supporting the state's broader renewable energy and electrification goals.

Agriculture and Natural Resources, Budget and Finance, Housing and Urban Affairs

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=243&year=2026