HI HB1613

Changes the Public Utilities Commission's authority from discretionary ("may") to mandatory ("shall") to adopt reliability standards and interconnection requirements for utility-scale renewable energy projects.

Requires electric utilities to complete interconnection design, reach agreement with renewable energy project developers, and file interconnection requests within 270 days of a power purchase agreement filing with the Commission.

Mandates interim progress reports at 90 and 180 days, with utilities forfeiting financial incentives if they fail to meet the 270-day deadline.

Requires the Commission to approve or disapprove interconnection requests within 120 days of filing and to report failures to the governor and legislature within 30 days.

Applies only to utility-scale renewable energy projects with five megawatts or greater total output capacity.