HI SCR95

Hawaii State Energy Office requested to convene a working group studying potential impacts of large data centers on electric utilities, ratepayers, natural resources, and climate goals.

Working group membership includes representatives from the Energy Office (chair), Department of Business Economic Development and Tourism, Board of Land and Natural Resources, Public Utilities Commission, electric utilities, and consumer/environmental advocacy organizations.

Study areas include mechanisms to ensure data center developers pay full infrastructure costs, ratepayer protections, transparency requirements for electricity and water consumption, renewable energy compliance strategies, and grid reliability on Hawaii's isolated island systems.

Data centers consumed approximately 4.4% of total U.S. electricity in 2023 and could reach 6.7% to 12% by 2028, with large facilities potentially using hundreds of millions to billions of gallons of water annually for cooling.

Working group must submit findings and recommendations to the Legislature twenty days prior to the 2027 Regular Session, with the group ceasing to exist on June 30, 2027.