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Governor signs bills related to Hawaii’s clean energy transition

Gov. David Ige signs one of four bills on Tuesday that aim to advance Hawaii’s transition to clean energy. Photo courtesy of the Governor’s Office

The Maui News

Gov. David Ige signed four bills on Tuesday related to climate change and clean energy, including measures that would set a target date for lower emissions and incentivize hydrogen vehicles.

The bills include:

• House Bill 1800, which sets an interim target for 2030 for Hawaii to be at least 50 percent below 2005 emissions.

• House Bill 1801, which requires and establishes deadlines for state facilities to implement cost-effective energy efficiency measures. It also directs the Hawaii State Energy Office to collect utility bill and energy usage data for state-owned buildings and to make the data publicly available.

• House Bill 2089, which amends the definition of “renewable portfolio standard” to mean a percentage of electrical energy generation, rather than sales, excluding customer-sited fossil fuel generation. As Hawaii aims to reach a renewable portfolio standard of 100 percent by 2045, this changes the way Hawaii calculates its progress. Up until now, it was based on sales, but with the new measure, the state will focus on actual generation so that 100 percent means 100 percent, according to a news release from the Governor’s Office.

• Senate Bill 2570, which provides incentives to further hydrogen vehicles on the road. This is especially important for medium and heavy-duty vehicles like trucks and semis and other emerging innovative transportation technologies, the news release said.

“Last week’s US Supreme Court decision limiting the federal government’s ability to fight climate change underscores why it’s so important for states to act and lead by example,” Ige said. “That’s why I’m proud to sign these four bills today, as they ensure that Hawaii continues to move forward as a national and global leader in creating the strategies necessary to achieve a clean energy economy, being more energy efficient in state government, clarifying how we measure progress on renewable energy and creating incentives for emerging technologies such as hydrogen.”

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