The Hawaii Green Infrastructure Authority (HGIA) asked the Public Utilities Commission during a status conference to rescind PUC Order 34940 so HGIA can release $18,000,000 in GEMS loan capital for nonprofits and small businesses and recycle principal repayments to finance more projects.

HGIA presented fiscal 2025 highlights and fiscal 2026 goals and told commissioners the request is urgent because recent federal changes to the 30% solar tax credit make timelier project starts materially more valuable to some applicants. “The clock has started ticking for the 30% federal solar tax credit,” HGIA’s presenter, Gwen, said during the session, urging quicker deployment so projects can capture available federal benefits.

HGIA said the commission’s earlier decision to limit use of GEMS funds combined with recent legislative and tax changes produced a surge and backlog of applications. The authority reported a 241% increase in applications during an 11-month period in 2024 compared with the prior year, said Gwen, and told the commission it believes roughly 30% of 2024 permits issued on Oahu were for underserved households. HGIA closed its application portal on Nov. 30, 2024, to work through the backlog and reopened a new loan portal on April 22, 2025 (Earth Day).

HGIA provided program details and pipeline numbers. It reported about $22,000,000 available for solar-plus-storage loans, roughly 30 active nonprofit/small-business applications aggregating more than $23,000,000 in total project costs, and the recent expiration of 12 residential applications aggregating $15,170,000 for lack of underwriting information. The authority also said it has six community solar projects in the pipeline and that CPACER financing launched July 1, 2024, with 14 capital providers.

HGIA described how some funds and programs are constrained by eligibility rules. The Solar for All program and certain loan funds require offtakers to live in specific census tracts or show federal benefits letters (for example SNAP) dated within 12 months; multifamily projects generally must rely on low-income housing tax credits or HUD Section 8 to qualify. HGIA said the Solar for All program is designed to use financing plus technical assistance, workforce development and community outreach: 85.6% of Solar for All funding would be used for financing, 5% for technical assistance/outreach/workforce development, 5.1% for administration and 4.3% for capacity building.

HGIA also described other recent developments: an investment fund manager hired Jan. 3, 2025, who is drafting administrative rules for a condominium coinvestment program created by Act 40 (2024); a federal grant award reduced to $62,450,000 from a $100,000,000 application, requiring multiple work-plan and budget revisions; and a clean-water financing pilot where HGIA convened stakeholders to explore building-level water reuse and a possible financing product while noting HGIA currently lacks a dedicated funding source for that work.

On policy requests, HGIA asked the PUC to (1) reverse Order 34940 so GEMS principal repayments and interest can be retained to cover program administration and recycle into new loans, and (2) consider whether HGIA may use the state revolving loan fund (currently limited to state energy-efficiency lending to departments and agencies) for solar PV financing so the state could access the 30% federal credit under direct pay. Commissioners asked for a formal written filing on the Order 34940 request; Gwen said she would work with HGIA counsel and file a formal request.

Commissioners and staff pressed for clarifications on timelines and impacts. Commissioner Colin asked whether a PUC action was required to allow use of the state revolving loan fund; HGIA said the fund currently covers energy-efficiency loans for state departments and agencies and that HGIA has previously made multiple loans (including a $46,000,000 loan to DOE). Chair Leo and other commissioners pressed HGIA on how many projects $18,000,000 could finance; HGIA said project sizes vary widely (from roughly $100,000 up to several million dollars) and estimated the dollar amount could fund anywhere from a handful of larger projects to many smaller ones depending on leverage.

Participants also discussed deployment strategy changes after the federal tax-credit shifts. HGIA said the impact will fall most heavily on lowest-income households that rely on third‑party-owned systems for which tax credits supply much of the investor return; HGIA indicated it may shift some funds away from individual residential rooftop projects toward multifamily and community solar to preserve benefits for underserved customers. HGIA said it will emphasize to homeowners that its long-term on-bill-style financing can make solar cost‑effective even without federal credits.

Attendees asked operational and technical questions: HGIA said it supports pairing storage with solar and that most current applications pair both; it reported contractor guidance has led many homeowners to opt out of time-of-use rates and that the BYOD+ program sees participation. HGIA confirmed CPACER does not rely on state funding and that the authority hopes some CPACER projects could serve resiliency hub functions if repayment streams exist. HGIA said it has engaged the National Renewable Energy Laboratory for technical assistance on community solar design and equity targeting and that NREL is on standby to provide help.

Gwen closed by thanking commissioners and noting HGIA’s fiscal 2026 goals, including committing remaining GEMS and Solar for All capital, directing at least 20% of Solar for All funds toward certain targets, capturing at least 50% of a second SSBCI tranche, closing at least $73,500,000 in CPACER financing, raising two solar HUI funds, and launching a condominium coinvestment loan program by July 2026. “It takes a village,” she said, thanking participants for support.

PUC staff said they had sent information requests that morning and encouraged HGIA to use answers as an opportunity to clarify items for the record; commissioners asked HGIA to submit a formal written request if it wishes the commission to rescind Order 34940 or to clarify the revolving loan fund’s allowed uses.