Senate committees back geothermal working group with amendments, add Native Hawaiian representation and extend report date

The Senate Committee on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs on Tuesday passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 136 and Senate Resolution 150 to request the State Energy Office convene a geothermal energy working group, adopting technical and substantive membership amendments and extending the report deadline to 2027.

The resolution originally called for a working group to evaluate regulatory and policy issues around geothermal energy in Hawaii. Jessica Simon, an analyst at the Public Utilities Commission, told the committee she "stand[s] on the commission's written testimony" and was available for questions. Monique Zampas of the Hawaii State Energy Office said the office supported the measure but asked that the report be due in 2027 rather than 2026 to align with ongoing resource characterization work: "we do support this measure, but we do request 1 minor revision, and that is that the report be due in 2027 rather than 2026." Michael Munekata of Ulupono Initiative testified in strong support and offered that he would back potential funding for the working group.

Several public testifiers opposed the measure. Michael Ewald said geothermal has "consistently ranked among the most expensive forms of electric power production" and raised public-health and environmental concerns including hydrogen sulfide releases, drilling impacts and radon. Caitlin Bray, testifying as Kanaka Maoli, said indigenous rights concerns were insufficiently addressed in the resolution's cited public survey and referenced international protections: "Kanaka Maoli have been fighting against geothermal testing on their homelands…It is a violation of UN human rights law," and noted the survey's sample size relative to the state's population.

In response to public concern the committee amended the resolution to specifically include "an individual from the Native Hawaiian community" among the working-group representatives, add the consumer advocate, add the chairs of the House and Senate energy committees, clarify utility and industry representatives, and extend the report due date to 2027. The chair described those as changes to improve representation and clarity.

The committee then voted to adopt the amended measure. The recorded votes as stated on the record were: Chair Wakai — aye; Vice Chair Chang — aye; Senator DeCoite — aye; Senator Richards — excused; Senator Flamelo — aye. The recommendation was adopted and the resolution will proceed with the adopted membership and the 2027 report deadline.

The working group as amended is to include state agencies (for example the Public Utilities Commission and the State Energy Office), a Native Hawaiian representative, the consumer advocate, utility and geothermal-industry representatives, and nongovernmental organizations with energy policy experience. The resolution invites participation from relevant community stakeholders and allows the group to report back to the Legislature on regulatory, environmental and policy considerations for geothermal development.

Committee members and testifiers repeatedly framed the measure as a convening mechanism rather than an authorization to build or permit projects; the resolution directs stakeholder study and reporting rather than approving any specific project.