Senate committees advance solar self-certification, assign state office to assess rooftop PV; several permitting bills deferred

The Senate committees on Energy and Intergovernmental Affairs and Government Operations met Jan. 30 in a joint hearing and decision-making session to consider a package of energy, permitting and administrative bills. The committees voted to advance measures that would expand streamlined permitting and self-certification for customer-sited solar projects and to assign the Hawaii State Energy Office (HSEO) responsibility to coordinate assessments of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) potential on state buildings. Other bills addressing county permitting and certain energy and procurement measures were deferred to allow additional stakeholder work.

The measures drawing the most attention were Senate Bill 588, which would implement self-certification for many solar projects; Senate Bill 412, which would have HSEO coordinate assessments of state buildings for distributed energy resources; and Senate Bill 133, which asks the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to provide guidance on intrastate wheeling. The committees passed SB 588 and SB 412 with amendments and passed SB 133 with amendments to move its deliverable date; SB 161 (county permitting and inspection) was deferred to a time-certain for additional carving-out of county authority and safety exceptions.

Why it matters: Supporters said the bills will lower permitting cost and speed deployment of rooftop PV, while opponents and some agencies warned that shifting permitting authority or broad exemptions could create gaps in life-safety inspections and risk jeopardizing federal funding tied to floodplain rules. Committees adopted DLNR-recommended language to reduce flood-insurance risk in the self-certification bill and directed further drafting on scope and carve-outs for county codes.

Mark Glick, chief energy officer at the Hawaii State Energy Office, told the committees the proposals are “consistent with the executive order… which calls for this kind of approach in trying to streamline and accelerate renewable transition,” and said self-certification will “greatly expand renewable penetration.” Rocky Mould of the Hawaii Solar Energy Association urged the committee to prefer a later, updated bill (SB 588 / SB 588 language) over older permitting language and confirmed the industry’s interest in behind-the-meter, customer-sited projects rather than utility-scale systems. Keith Regan, comptroller for the Department of Accounting and General Services (DAGS), stood on written comments cautioning that some agencies lack building-code expertise for full permitting authority.

On flood-plain rules: Edwin Matsuda from the Department of Land and Natural Resources’ engineering division briefed the committees on federal National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) implications, saying the program’s requirements and potential ineligibility for communities that do not comply remain a concern if local interpretations change. During discussion of SB 588, proponents said the bill’s FEMA-related exemption would apply only to PV installed on existing structures without expanding footprints in floodways; DLNR pressed for language to avoid jeopardizing federal funding. The committees agreed to adopt DLNR’s suggested amendments while preserving self-certification provisions.

State buildings and benchmarking: Committee members also focused on energy efficiency and state building assessments. Gail Suzuki Jonas and staff from HSEO described a federally funded benchmarking project to assess energy use in roughly 590 state buildings over 10,000 square feet; HSEO officials said the selected contractor and draft contract are in procurement and that benchmarking is expected to take two years once started. HSEO confirmed it could take on additional duties of coordinating assessments of agency buildings, but noted the need for staffing and resources. Senator questions emphasized the need for status reporting, cost estimates for retrofits, and clarity about what the benchmarking scope would deliver.

Other actions and next steps: The committees deferred several measures to schedule more stakeholder work or to reconcile overlapping bills; among them were SB 161 (county permitting and inspection), SB 232 (permitting; later withdrawn to prefer SB 588 language), SB 635 (energy-efficiency lighting), and multiple administrative or procurement bills that were set aside for further drafting or referred to specific future dates. The committees recorded multiple committee-level votes on Jan. 30 and in the subsequent decision-making session.

Votes at a glance (selected committee actions recorded in the hearing): - SB 133 (energy; PUC wheeling guidance): Passed with amendments (chair recommendation to move deliverable to 2027 session). Outcome recorded as passed in committee. (See provenance: introduction and committee recommendation.) - SB 412 (renewable energy; state-building assessments): Passed with amendments; committees assigned HSEO responsibility to compile data and provide timelines. Outcome recorded as passed in committee. - SB 588 (renewable energy; self-certification for PV): Passed with amendments; committees agreed to add DLNR-recommended language concerning FEMA flood-zone impacts and technical, non-substantive edits. - SB 161 (county permitting and inspection): Deferred; committees set a time-certain for Tuesday, Feb. 4, 2025, to develop carve-outs preserving county authority on specified life-safety items. - SB 232 (renewable energy permitting): Deferred in favor of pursuing the later bill (SB 588) that contains updated language. - SB 635 (state energy-efficiency lighting): Deferred for further consideration and to align with existing HSEO benchmarking work; committee requested status reporting. - Decision-meeting outcomes (administrative/procurement and other bills): multiple measures passed with amendments (including SB 254, SB 383, SB 382, SB 462, SB 5, SB 375, SB 418, SB 55, SB 870, SB 406, SB 546) while others were deferred or set time-certain for Feb. 4 (see actions[] for full list and committee notes).

What’s next: Committees directed staff to draft the agreed amendments (including DLNR language on floodplain/federal funding safeguards), to coordinate HSEO capacity-building and reporting language, and set multiple items for follow-up at a Feb. 4, 2025 time-certain session (including SB 161, SB 635, and additional administrative bills). Several bills were referred to further stakeholder meetings to resolve county/state jurisdiction and technical questions before final committee reports.

Ending: The committees’ actions reflect an effort to accelerate rooftop solar deployment and energy efficiency while trying to preserve county permitting authority and federal funding safeguards. The committees recorded decisions and deferrals intended to give agencies and stakeholders time to refine language and to ensure any transfer of permitting duties is accompanied by reporting and safety carve-outs.