PUC Annual Report–Fiscal Year 2011-12 - Public Utilities Commission

Public Utilities Commission Annual Report 2011-12
State of Hawaii Page 22
Legislative Mandates
In addition to the regulatory proceedings held by the Commission, the Hawaii
State Legislature also tasks the Commission with governance over certain policies in
statute that relate to areas under the Commission’s oversight. Though these change as
the statutes are amended, previous examples of this include the gasoline price cap and
Petroleum Industry Monitoring Analysis and Reporting. Currently, the Commission
oversees the state’s Renewable Portfolio Standards, Energy Efficiency Portfolio
Standards, the Public Benefits Fee, and the One Call Center. The 2012 legislative
session also added the Hawaii Electricity Reliability Administrator to the oversight of the
Commission—for more information on this, please see the Legislation section of this
report.
Renewable Portfolio Standards
In 2006, the Legislature revised HRS §§ 269-91 to 269-95, Hawaii Renewable
Portfolio Standards, authorizing the Commission to establish and issue penalties
against electric utility companies who fail to meet the Renewable Portfolio Standards
(“RPS”) of 10 percent of new electricity sales by December 31, 2010; 15 percent by
December 31, 2015; and 20 percent by December 31, 2020. Consequently, the
Commission opened an investigation (Docket No. 2007-0008) to examine the
appropriate penalty framework for non-compliance with the RPS. The Commission
released a framework, which includes a requirement that each electric utility shall
annually file an Annual RPS report with the Commission.
In December 2008, the Commission approved a penalty of $20 for every
megawatt-hour (“MWh”) that an electric utility is deficient under Hawaii’s RPS Law. In
the Commission’s discretion, this penalty may be reduced based on the factors listed in
HRS § 269-92(d) and in the RPS Framework, Section III.C.5. Any RPS penalties
assessed against the HECO Companies for failure to meet the RPS shall go into the
account established for the public benefits fees and shall not be recovered through
rates. Any RPS penalties assessed against Kauai Island Utility Cooperative (“KIUC”)
shall be paid into the Commission’s special fund and may be recovered from its
members or ratepayers. The current RPS Law, which became effective on July 1,
2009, will not allow the electrical energy savings from energy efficiency and solar water
heating technologies to count towards the RPS from January 1, 2015 (the 2015 RPS
target is 15 percent, the 2020 RPS target is 25 percent, and the 2030 RPS target is
40 percent).