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DER parties warn HR1’s ‘OBBB’ will raise costs; propose quick-connect, tariff fixes and other short-term actions
Summary
Representatives of Hawaii’s solar and DER industry told the Public Utilities Commission that federal changes in HR1, called “OBBB” in the conference, are increasing costs and supply-chain uncertainty and proposed five immediate actions to mitigate impacts for Hawaii customers.
Representatives of Hawaii’s distributed energy resource (DER) parties told the Public Utilities Commission that federal changes in HR1 — described in the conference as the “1 Big Beautiful Bill” or OBBB — are already increasing uncertainty and costs for solar and battery installations and could slow projects statewide.
“HR 1 is gonna have a very big impact on the industry here in Hawaii and also nationally,” Rocky Mould, executive director of the Hawaii Solar Energy Association, said. He told the PUC the wind-down of investment and production tax credits, foreign-entity restrictions and domestic-content requirements will raise equipment and installation costs and create supply-chain uncertainty.
DER parties proposed five immediate actions they asked the commission to consider or facilitate: reinstate a quick-connect interconnection pathway (with some modifications), adopt proposed NEM Plus tariff amendments, clarify BYOD Plus provisions (nonperformance thresholds and clawbacks), adopt a monthly BYOD Plus capacity payment (proposed $20 per kW), and release a straw proposal for the next BYOD iteration (called Hawaii Connected Solutions) with an accelerated implementation timeline of Jan. 1, 2026.
Mould said the quick-connect proposal would mirror the emergency COVID-era pathway with tight completeness-review and conditional-approval clocks and a cost-sharing fee paid by installers to socialize distribution upgrade costs. He said the DER parties had discussed the ideas with Hawaiian Electric and city permitting staff and urged rapid action to avoid disruption as federal tax credits change.
Hawaiian Electric (HECO) representatives said they understand the urgency and have implemented near-term process improvements to speed interconnection and approvals. HECO said it moved staff resources and implemented process changes on July 22 to focus on completeness review, with a target to reduce the tariff-prescribed 15 business-day completeness review toward about 8–9 business days. HECO also said distribution planning reviews have been running quickly and that it plans to shift focus in mid-October to validation and permission to operate (PTO) to ensure contractors are paid and projects are closed out.
HECO asked contractors to ensure customers have AMI meters before seeking transitions; commissioners and HECO staff said AMI penetration on Oahu is approximately 98 percent, and HECO noted AMI opt-outs are the main remaining barrier to transitions in most cases.
Commissioners asked the parties to continue informal discussions and, where possible, submit joint stipulations or proposals for commission blessing. Commissioner Colin Yost said the commission would explain in the forthcoming docket-closure order how to file nondocketed requests for expedited review if parties cannot reach agreement.
No formal commission action was taken at the conference beyond the instruction to prepare the closing order and to accept filings for expedited review; parties were urged to file joint proposals where feasible.
