“Lazarus” Energy Bill Returns
Jeff Mikulina, director of the Sierra Club Hawai`i chapter, asked House committee members to pass Senate Bill 644 because even with existing incentives for installing solar water heating, only 20 to 25 percent of new homes in Hawai`i install systems.
Senate Bill 644, which requires the installation of solar hot water heaters in all new single family residential construction, has returned to life and is moving in the House of Representatives. This bill had passed out of the Senate last year but was stalled in the House by a solid wall of opposition by the Hawai`i Solar Industry Association, the Building Industry Association, Hawaiian Electric Co. and The Gas Company.
This year, with oil prices now hovering over $100 per barrel, interest has been renewed in the measure that is projected to dramatically increase Hawai`i’s energy independence, generate increased economic activity and lower the cost of home ownership.
Industry experts agree that the most efficient and cost-effective time to install a solar hot water heaters is during a home’s initial design and construction. There is also general agreement that new developers installing 1,000 solar hot water heaters in 1,000 new homes can do so far more efficiently and at a lower price than later during an individual homeowner’s retrofit.
For years, solar industry spokespersons have upheld that solar systems pay for themselves, saying that because of the systems’ immediate savings in energy costs, the homeowner actually pays less overall on a monthly basis than he or she would otherwise.
As the benefits of Senate Bill 644 become better known, there has been an increased awareness and support for passage from a cross section of residents around the state.
Rep. Hermina Morita, chair of the House Energy and Environmental Protection Committee, and Rep. Maile Shimabukuro, chair of the House Human Services and Housing Committee, held a hearing on the measure yesterday and passed it out of their committees with unanimous votes in support.
According to the measure’s original sponsor, Senate Majority Leader Gary Hooser (Kaua`i, Ni`ihau), the bill:
1) Has zero impact on the state budget
2) Will generate immediate and significant energy savings for individuals and the state
3) Results in significant and tangible environmental benefits
4) Creates an economic stimulus by keeping millions of dollars in the state economy rather than exporting those dollars to purchase foreign oil
5) Generates a significant number of new jobs (both manufacturing the systems and installing them)
6) Reduces the net cost of home ownership (when calculating the 30 year mortgage cost of the system combined with the immediate lowering electric bill)
Interested parties can read the amended version of the Senate Bill 644, House Draft 1 on the Capitol Web site. The bill’s status and testimony are also available on the site.
Hooser thanked the Hawai`i Sierra Club for its support of the bill and for providing Google Earth images of the bare rooftops of hundreds of new homes built recently in privately-developed areas on O`ahu compared with an image of the solar systems installed on hundreds of rooftops of newly-built military housing.
The bill also appeared on the front page of today’s Honolulu Advertiser.
With minor amendments, Senate Bill 644, House Draft 1 now moves to the House Committee on Economic Development and Business Interests. The committee has scheduled the bill for a hearing next Tuesday at 8:45 a.m.