| Hawaii Governor
Signs Key Energy Bill Hawaii Governor Linda Lingle recently signed into law a key energy bill that provides significant movement toward achievement of the Lingle-Aiona Administration’s Energy for Tomorrow vision. The bill (SB 2957) is part of an energy plan that encourages and supports market-based development of reliable, cost-effective, and self-reliant energy for Hawaii. “This new law marks the final legislative component of my administration’s ‘Energy for Tomorrow’ initiatives, which will help Hawaii reduce dependence on imported oil,” said Governor Lingle. SB2957 SD2 HD2 CD1 (Act 240) along with three other bills the governor has already signed into law (SB3185 – Act 162, HB2848 – Act 163, and HB2175 – Act 96), represents a step in securing the state’s energy future. This new law emphasizes energy self-sufficiency by: --Increasing the income tax credit for renewable energy technologies for certain solar-thermal, wind-powered and photovoltaic energy systems. The dollar cap for tax credits for single-family residential solar thermal systems is now $2,250, a nearly 30 percent increase, while single-family residential photovoltaic systems can now claim up to $5,000, a 240 percent increase. Commercial wind-powered and photovoltaic systems are eligible for credits of up to $500,000, a 100 percent increase. The bill removes the 2008 sunset date for these energy tax credits. --Establishing the “pay-as-you-save” pilot project to provide a financing mechanism to make purchases of residential solar hot water heater systems more affordable. These systems decrease reliance on imported oil used to generate electricity to heat water because they use less energy than the electric hot water heating systems. The pilot project will allow a residential electric utility customer to avoid the barrier of upfront payments for the installation of these important energy-saving devices by allowing them to pay for the cost over time on their electricity bill. --Establishing state support for achieving a new statewide alternate fuel standard of 10 percent of highway fuel in use by 2010, 15 percent by 2015, and 20 percent by 2020. To contribute to the achievement of this goal, the state has established a bio-diesel preference in the state procurement law. --Establishing a Hawaii Renewable Hydrogen Program to manage the state’s transition to a renewable hydrogen economy. The bill provides seed and venture capital for investments in private sector and federal projects for research, development and testing of hydrogen power. --Providing funding to increase the use of state biomass resources for energy by assisting the agricultural community interested in developing energy projects, especially in the production of biodiesel and cellulosic ethanol from agricultural waste streams. In addition, the funds will be used to conduct a statewide, multi-fuel ,biofuels production assessment.
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