THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	248
THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THAT THE PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION DEVELOP AND ADOPT RELIABILITY STANDARDS AND INTERCONNECTION REQUIREMENTS TO FACILITATE THE TIMELY INTERCONNECTION OF UTILITY-SCALE RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS.

 

 

        WHEREAS, accelerating the development of renewable energy to reduce greenhouse gases is a high priority for the State, and the Legislature has enacted numerous acts to achieve this objective; and

 

        WHEREAS, Act 97, Session Laws of Hawaii 2015, established a renewable energy portfolio standards target of one hundred percent renewable electric energy by 2045; and

 

        WHEREAS, Act 15, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018, established a statewide zero emissions clean economy target to sequester throughout the State more atmospheric carbon and greenhouse gases than emitted, as quickly as practicable but no later than 2045; and

 

        WHEREAS, Act 23, Session Laws of Hawaii 2020, prohibited the further use of coal in Hawaii for electricity production; and

 

        WHEREAS, the development and completion of renewable energy projects is also a high priority for the State; and

 

        WHEREAS, the Public Utilities Commission has expressed concerns regarding the significant delay in Hawaiian Electric Company's bid solicitation for the phase 1 interconnection process for utility-scale renewable energy; and

 

        WHEREAS, redoubled efforts will need to be made to avoid similar delays in procurement for phase 2; and

 

        WHEREAS, for example, in a November 13, 2020, letter issued to the parties in docket numbers 2015-0389, 2017-0352, and 2018-0165, the Public Utilities Commission stated that the Public Utilities Commission "is markedly concerned that Hawaiian Electric [Company]'s interconnection processes and policies are increasing development costs and extending renewable project timelines"; and

 

        WHEREAS, in docket number 2018-0088, the Public Utilities Commission issued order number 37507 on December 23, 2020, indicating that the Public Utilities Commission was concerned about interconnection delays and will implement a performance incentive mechanism to encourage Hawaiian Electric Company to accelerate the interconnection process; and

 

        WHEREAS, order number 37507 also stated that "the scheduled retirement of the AES Power Plant in 2022, as well as [Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.; Hawaii Electric Light Company, Inc.; and Maui Electric Company, Limited's] proposal to delay interconnecting several renewable energy and storage projects recently approved by the [Public Utilities] Commission, underscores the need for expeditiously securing alternative sources of grid services to ensure that system needs are met"; and

 

        WHEREAS, during procurement phase 1, Hawaiian Electric Company submitted the power purchase agreement applications for the first seven of eight renewable energy projects to the Public Utilities Commission for approval in December 2018, and then submitted the power purchase agreement application for the eighth renewable energy project in February 2019; and

 

        WHEREAS, however, Hawaiian Electric Company did not submit the interconnection transmission line requests for approval until several months later for five of these renewable energy projects; and

 

        WHEREAS, there have been significant delays for Hawaiian Electric Company to complete its interconnection process, making it difficult to plan for the design and construction of utility-scale renewable energy projects that require interconnection with Hawaiian Electric Company's electric grid; and

        WHEREAS, facilitating the timing of interconnection will:

 

        (1)   Help to bring utility-scale renewable energy projects online sooner;

 

        (2)   Decrease electricity rates for consumers by providing project developers with added certainty regarding project timelines to lower bid pricing;

 

        (3)   Help to achieve the State's renewable portfolio standard goals in a timely manner; and

 

        (4)   Help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate the effects of climate change sooner; and

 

        WHEREAS, on February 16, 2021, twenty-three months after the Public Utilities Commission approved the power purchase agreement in March 2019, Hawaiian Electric Company disclosed to the Public Utilities Commission that a Maui renewable project in procurement phase 1's guaranteed commercial operations date would be delayed by approximately twenty-seven months due to interconnection-related delays; and

 

        WHEREAS, on February 26, 2021, the Public Utilities Commission expressed concerns:

 

        (1)   Over Hawaiian Electric Company's utility-scale renewable energy project   s guaranteed commercial operations, in addition to the delays for other procurement phase 1 projects;

 

        (2)   That the delays in the project's guaranteed commercial operations would cost ratepayers significantly; and

 

        (3)   That the project's guaranteed commercial operations are critical to the retirement of the Kahului Power Plant; and

 

        WHEREAS, the Public Utilities Commission issued a letter dated Mach 9, 2021, regarding a Notice of Status Conference in a proceeding to Review Hawaiian Electric Company   s Interconnection Process and Transition Plans for Retirement of Fossil Fuel Power Plants, in which the Public Utilities Commission stated that Hawaiian Electric Company "has provided inconsistent and possibly conflicting assessments on system reliability between prior status conferences on this matter, the 2021 Adequacy of Supply report, and the Initial Update"; now, therefore,

 

BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, the House of Representatives concurring, that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to develop and adopt, by rule or order, reliability standards and interconnection requirements in accordance with section 269-142, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to include in any interconnection procedures established pursuant to this resolution requirements that the electric public utilities:

 

        (1)   Complete the interconnection design;

 

        (2)   Reach an agreement with the renewable energy project developer; and

 

        (3)   File a request for interconnection or line extension approval, if required;

 

provided that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to require that the electric public utilities meet these requirements as soon as practicable, but no later than two hundred seventy days after the renewable energy project power purchase agreement is filed with the Public Utilities Commission for review and approval; provided further that the Public Utilities Commission may require that the electric public utility submit interim reports to the Public Utilities Commission on the status of the electric public utility's efforts to comply with the requirements of this clause both ninety days and one hundred eighty days after the renewable energy project power purchase agreement is filed with the Public Utilities Commission for review and approval; and provided further that if the electric public utility is unable to comply with the requirements of this clause, the Public Utilities Commission may require that the electric public utility report in writing the reasons therefore to the Public Utilities Commission within ten calendar days after the expiration of the two hundred seventy-day period; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that if the electric public utility fails to meet the requirements established by the Public Utilities Commission pursuant to this resolution within the two hundred seventy-day period, the Public Utilities Commission is requested to require that the electric public utility forfeit and return all moneys or other financial incentives that the electric public utility has received as part of any performance incentive mechanism program or similar incentive-based award recognized by the Public Utilities Commission in connection with the renewable energy project; provided that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to submit a report to the Governor and Legislature regarding any failure to meet the timing under this clause by any electric public utility within thirty days of the Public Utilities Commission receiving notice of this failure; provided further that upon the filing of a request for interconnection or line extension approval by an electric public utility under this clause, the Public Utilities Commission is requested to either approve or disapprove the request within one hundred twenty days of the filing of the request; and provided further that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to require that all requests for interconnection or line extensions apply only to utility-scale renewable energy projects that are five megawatts in total output capacity or larger; and

 

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Public Utilities Commission is requested to contract with a person, business, or organization, except for a public utility as defined under Chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes, that will serve as the Hawaii electricity reliability administrator pursuant to section 269-147, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that within thirty days of receipt of the Hawaii electric reliability administrator's report submitted to the Public Utilities Commission pursuant to section 269-149, Hawaii Revised Statutes, the Public Utilities Commission is requested to submit to the Legislature the report and the Public Utilities Commission's assessment of the status and progress of the Hawaii electric reliability administrator in achieving and accomplishing the objectives of Part IX of Chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes; and

 

        BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Chairperson of the Public Utilities Commission and the Hawaii Electric Reliability Administrator.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title:

Public Utilities Commission; Reliability Standards