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Senate approves utility wildfire‑liability bill after heated debate over caps on damages; chair objects to late provisions
Summary
The Hawaii Senate approved S.B. 897, a bill intended to help finance wildfire mitigation, but several senators sharply criticized newly inserted language that would allow the Public Utilities Commission to cap utility liability for future wildfires.
The Senate passed S.B. 897, Conference Draft 1, a measure that authorizes securitized borrowing to fund wildfire mitigation projects and includes a contested provision directing the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to choose whether to set a per‑disaster cap or a multi‑disaster period cap on utility liability.
Senator Keohokalole, the Senate committee chair who oversees the bill's subject matter, said he opposed the measure as written and criticized the insertion of sweeping liability‑cap language late in the process. "This isn't just a wildfire mitigation bill," he said on the floor, arguing the provision gives the PUC "the unilateral power…
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