S.B. 839 Summary

• Establishes the Hawaii Electricity Reliability Surcharge Special Fund and subaccount to support grid reliability operations and oversight.

• Requires the Public Utilities Commission to establish mandatory reliability standards and interconnection requirements for all electric utilities and Hawaii electric system users, with the Commission determining cost responsibility for each standard.

• Requires the Commission to distinguish between interconnection facilities (responsibility of interconnection customer) and utility network upgrades at/beyond the point of interconnection (responsibility of utility transmission provider).

• Establishes interconnection procedures and timelines for utility-scale renewable energy projects of 5 megawatts or larger, with utilities required to report progress at 90 and 180 days after power purchase agreement filing, and forfeit performance incentive payments for non-compliance.

• Beginning January 1, 2024, imposes a Hawaii Electricity Reliability Administrator surcharge on investor-owned electric utility company customer bills to fund the Administrator, contingent on surcharge establishment; requires annual reporting to the Legislature on Administrator progress.