H.B. 339 Summary

• Part I establishes conditions for electric utility acquisitions: Requires the Public Utilities Commission to impose specific approval conditions on any acquisition, merger, or consolidation of an electric utility company, including protections for existing power purchase agreements, collective bargaining agreements, and employee retention.

• Requires consideration of non-investor-owned alternatives: When an investor-owned utility seeks to acquire an electric utility, the utility must demonstrate it solicited bids from non-investor-owned entities and submit any acceptable alternative bids to the PUC concurrently with the investor-owned application.

• Part II authorizes $1 billion in general obligation bonds: Authorizes issuance of reimbursable GO bonds to acquire Hawaiian Electric Industries and convert it to a publicly owned utility.

• Creates electric utility conversion special fund: Establishes a special fund to receive nonbypassable electric utility conversion charges collected from customers, with revenues used to pay debt service on the acquisition bonds.

• Effective date of July 1, 3000: The bill contains a typographical error in the effective date provision.