Utilities committee adopts substitute, gives House Bill 2248 due-pass recommendation 18–1

The Committee on Utilities voted 18–1 to give a due-pass recommendation to the House Committee substitute for House Bill 2248 after adopting a substitute that, the bill sponsor said, incorporated clarifying language requested by the Public Service Commission.

Representative Hurlburt, the bill’s sponsor, told the committee the substitute makes three small clarifying edits the Public Service Commission requested. "Three small clarifying changes that all came from the Public Service Commission," he said, noting two edits that replace language reading "equal to 120% of" with the word "exceed" (page 2, lines 18–19 and page 2, line 39) and the restoration of a passage beginning with "notwithstanding" on page 5, lines 98–110.

The committee first adopted the distributed substitute by voice and then took a roll-call vote on the committee substitute’s recommendation to pass the bill. By roll call the panel approved the substitute recommendation 18 ayes to 1 no; the transcript records Committee member Thomas as the lone recorded no vote. The chair announced the tally and stated the committee’s action as a due‑pass recommendation.

The sponsor described the changes as technical, and said they reflected the Public Service Commission’s requested language and preserved existing statutory wording where the commission asked to retain it. No amendment text beyond those clarifications was discussed on the floor. The committee did not direct additional staff work or studies on the bill during this session.

With the committee’s due-pass recommendation, the House Committee substitute for House Bill 2248 moves forward in the legislative process to the next step determined by chamber procedures.