The Hawai‘i State Senate and ‘Olelo Community Television today announced that Senate hearings that are cablecast on ‘Olelo will also be available for on-demand viewing on the Internet for up to six months from the hearing date. Via a link provided on the Senate’s home page, users will be allowed to search the archive based on the closed captioning that is already offered on Senate cablecasts. Full use of the free public service requires a broadband connection. The initial pilot project is scheduled to last six months.

“This is an excellent way to offer the public still greater access to the workings of their government,” said Senate President Colleen Hanabusa. “It is an important step, along with our paperless initiative and providing committee testimony online, that will allow the public to follow the Senate’s decision-making process, even if their personal schedules do not allow them to come to the Capitol on a regular basis.”

‘Olelo President and CEO Keali‘i Lopez shares the Senate’s vision of making their deliberations more accessible. “We are excited about offering this pilot service to the State Senate and appreciate their eagerness to make their legislative proceedings so readily accessible to the public,” Lopez said. “although ‘Olelo serves the island of O‘ahu, we know our neighbor island counterparts value that the communities they serve throughout the state can also access their State government’s proceedings.”

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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.