Bill > HB1023

This bill aims to modify Hawaii's Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) to address emerging trends in clean energy and climate change mitigation. The legislation introduces several key provisions to improve the state's renewable energy strategy, including establishing more stringent requirements for biofuels by mandating lower lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions, creating capacity markets to incentivize clean energy generation, and promoting distributed solar development. Specifically, the bill requires electric utilities to purchase 20 million gallons of renewable biofuels annually by 2045, secure 2,000 megawatts of dispatchable customer-sited solar generation, and establish capacity payments to ensure a reserve margin of at least 15% from generators with high capacity factors using renewable or decarbonized energy. The bill also introduces new definitions for terms like "decarbonized electrical energy" and "local renewable biofuels" and requires electric utilities to report their renewable portfolio progress by individual islands. By implementing these changes, the legislation seeks to strengthen Hawaii's clean energy goals, reduce reliance on fossil fuels, and support the state's commitment to addressing the climate crisis through a more sophisticated and environmentally conscious approach to electricity generation.

Agriculture and Natural Resources

https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/session/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=HB&billnumber=1023&year=2025