THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	172
THIRTY-THIRD LEGISLATURE, 2026
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the public utilities commission to conduct a comprehensive analysis on the best paths to maximize cost reduction and minimize financial risk to hawaii residents while meeting state goals.

 

 

     WHEREAS, Hawaii is extremely vulnerable to sudden and enormous cost increases as a result of its reliance on imports, including from global conflicts, international politics, and numerous other forces outside of Hawaii's control, which has spiked the cost of natural gas and oil, whose costs to acquire have dramatically risen as a result of the Iran conflict; and

 

     WHEREAS, the cost of renewable technologies continues to dramatically fall, with battery storage and solar costs dropping ninety percent over the last decade, while their generation and storage capacity continue to expand as rare metals, such as lithium, are being replaced by common sodium and other long-duration storage innovations; and

 

     WHEREAS, states such as California have made remarkable progress on their grid by leveraging innovative renewables and battery storage to replace natural gas and coal, helping to reduce cost volatility and improving grid reliability with innovative renewables and long-duration storage that have completely eliminated brownouts and blackouts as a result of a lack of capacity, an issue that Oahu now faces monthly; and

 

     WHEREAS, section 226-18(a)(2), Hawaii Revised Statutes, directs the state agency plans, decisions, and strategies to account for "increased energy security and self-sufficiency through the reduction and ultimate elimination of Hawaii's dependence on imported fuels for electrical generation..."; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Legislature found that "Hawaii's dependence on imported fuel drains the State's economy of billions of dollars each year", and "a stronger local economy depends on a transition away from imported fuels and toward renewable local resources that provide a secure source of affordable energy" which it wrote into Act 97, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, mandating one hundred percent renewable energy by 2045; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Public Utilities Commission decided in 2016 against plans that would have led to the import of liquefied natural gas (LNG), and the Hawaii Supreme Court, in 2022, decided against allowing the Commission to pass the cost of other natural gas projects on to ratepayers because the agency failed to fulfill its "affirmative duty to reduce the State's reliance on fossil fuels through energy efficiency and renewable energy generation"; and

 

     WHEREAS, in January 2025, the Hawaii State Energy Office published its "Alternative Fuels, Repowering, and Energy Transition Study", in which it justified reviving plans to import LNG to Hawaii, though in March 2026, an independent review found basic errors in the calculations of the study, including a failure to count the LNG fuel costs in the cost‑benefit analysis which eliminates claimed cost savings from LNG and instead would increase costs to consumers by at least $300 million; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Hawaii State Energy Office's "Alternative Fuels, Repowering, and Energy Transition Study" was also limited to considering replacing existing fuels for power generation with new fuels and did not make a meaningful comparison to or evaluate replacing existing fuels with cheaper renewable options, potentially missing billions of dollars of savings for consumers as a result of innovative technology such as moving beyond Hawaii's typical four-hour energy storage to a newer one hundred hour or greater energy storage that would enable additional cheaper renewable energy capacity, a strategy already proving successful elsewhere; and

 

     WHEREAS, the Public Utilities Commission previously opined that plans developed by stakeholders that may eventually be considered by the Commission are frequently developed with predetermined limitations or assumptions artificially limiting the scope of a plan, such as focusing on strategies that may be a priority in a stakeholder's interest, but missing others that might be in the public interest; and

 

     WHEREAS, decisions likely to be made in the next few years may lock Hawaii and its residents into billions of dollars in additional costs, or billions of dollars in additional savings, so it is of absolute, critical importance that the best options are thoroughly evaluated to help inform ongoing state and utility planning so the best decisions can be made for the people of Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, recent events continue to highlight Hawaii's vulnerability to the volatility and rising costs to local families of relying on imported fuels, such as cold weather and polar vortexes driving up heating demand and fuel costs in the United States and geopolitical events, such as the war in Iran, which has triggered the latest giant spike in natural gas and oil prices that increase costs for local consumers and siphon billions of dollars out of Hawaii's economy each year; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2026, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to conduct an objective, independent analysis and evaluation on the best paths to maximize cost reduction and minimize financial risk to Hawaii residents for energy while meeting the State's established goals; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to contract and engage with experts as may be appropriate to develop two separate independent and objective analyses to ensure beyond a reasonable that the paths are thoroughly evaluated; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the analyses are requested to examine the best potential paths for Hawaii to maximize cost reduction and minimize financial risk to Hawaii residents for energy while meeting established state goals, from now through 2055, accounting for what costs or savings Hawaii residents will bear in a period beyond 2045 based on the paths evaluated; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the analyses are requested to, at minimum, be designed to consider the latest strategies, technologies, innovations, and options being developed and implemented in Hawaii and other states and jurisdictions that are proving most successful and may help Hawaii maximize cost reduction and minimize financial risk to Hawaii residents while meeting established state goals; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to submit a preliminary report of findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than thirty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2027; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to submit a final report of its findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, to the Legislature no later than thirty days prior to the convening of the Regular Session of 2028; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Executive Officer of the Public Utilities Commission, and Chief Energy Officer.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

 

 

 

Report Title: 

PUC; HSEO; Study; Reports