Bill Text: HI SB2091 | 2024 | Regular Session | Amended

Hawaii Senate Bill 2091

HI State Legislature page for SB2091

Bill Title: Relating To Public Utilities.

Spectrum: Moderate Partisan Bill (Democrat 9-1)

Status: (Engrossed) 2024-03-07 - Referred to EEP/WAL, CPC, referral sheet 16 [SB2091 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2024-SB2091-Amended.html

THE SENATE	S.B. NO.	2091
THIRTY-SECOND LEGISLATURE, 2024		S.D. 2
STATE OF HAWAII

A BILL FOR AN ACT

RELATING TO PUBLIC UTILITIES.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF HAWAII:

SECTION 1. Chapter 269, Hawaii Revised Statutes, is amended by adding two new sections to be appropriately designated and to read as follows:

"§269- Telecommunications providers to notify of deenergization of electrical lines. (a) In preparation for receiving notifications regarding the deenergization of electrical lines, all facilities-based mobile telecommunications service providers shall:

(1) Designate contact points or persons within the company to receive notifications from an electric utility for expected deenergization of electrical lines; and

(2) Develop uniform protocols prior to a deenergization event to respond appropriately to an outage.

(b) Upon receipt of a notification regarding the deenergization of electrical lines, a facilities-based mobile telecommunications service provider shall communicate relevant information relating to the deenergization of electrical lines to public safety or emergency response offices for the affected areas.

§269- Electric utility companies; wildfire mitigation plan. (a) Each electric utility in the State shall construct, maintain, and operate the utility's electrical lines and equipment in a manner that shall minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by the electrical lines and equipment.

(b) The commission may periodically convene community outreach meetings for the purpose of helping electric utilities identify, adopt, and carry out best practices regarding wildfires, including but not limited to risk-based wildfire

protection and risk-based wildfire mitigation procedures and standards.

(c) An electric utility shall adopt, and operate in compliance with, a risk-based wildfire mitigation plan that is filed with the commission and evaluated and approved by the commission. The plan shall be based on reasonable and prudent practices and on commission standards as adopted by rule. The electric utility shall design the plan in a manner that seeks to protect public safety, reduce risk to utility customers, and promote electrical system resilience to wildfire damage.

(d) An electric utility shall submit, and annually update a risk-based wildfire mitigation plan on a schedule as determined by the commission. The plan shall, at a minimum:

(1) Identify areas that are subject to a heightened risk of wildfire;

(2) Identify a means for mitigating wildfire risk that reflects a reasonable balancing of mitigation costs with the resulting reduction of wildfire risk;

(3) Identify preventive actions and programs that the electric utility shall carry out to minimize the risk of utility facilities causing a wildfire;

(4) After seeking input from relevant governmental entities, identify a protocol for the deenergizing of power lines and adjusting of power system operations to mitigate wildfires, promote the safety of the public and first responders, and preserve health and communication infrastructure, which shall include:

(A) Protocols for deenergizing electrical lines that consider the associated impacts on public safety, including protocols related to mitigating the public safety impacts on critical first responders and health and communication infrastructures;

(B) Procedures for notifying a customer who may be impacted by the deenergizing of electrical lines;

(C) Procedures for notifying public safety offices, critical first responders, health care facilities, and telecommunications service providers who are within the deenergizing areas about the deenergizing of electrical lines; and

(D) Protocols for deenergizing electrical lines when the deenergization may impact customers or entities who are dependent on the infrastructure;

(5) Describe the procedures, standards, and time frames that the electric utility will use to inspect utility infrastructure in areas that the electric utility identifies under paragraph (1);

(6) Describe the procedures, standards, and time frames that the electric utility will use to carry out vegetation management in areas that the electric utility identifies under paragraph (1);

(7) Identify the estimated development, implementation, and administration costs for the plan;

(8) Identify the community outreach and public awareness efforts that the electric utility will use with respect to wildfires; and

(9) Identify the timelines, as applicable, for development, implementation, and administration of any aspects of the plan.

(e) Not more than days after an electric utility files a plan or plan update, the commission shall approve, approve with conditions on the plan, or update the plan if the commission finds that the plan or update is based on reasonable and prudent practices and designed to meet all applicable rules and standards adopted by the commission. The commission may, in approving the plan or updating with conditions, make modifications or updates to the plan that it believes represent a reasonable balancing of mitigation costs with the resulting reduction of wildfire risk. The commission shall issue a decision explaining any modifications at the time it approves the plan. The commission may consult with and consider information from governmental entities, including counties, as well as other industry organizations; provided that the commission identifies the nature of the consultation in its decision.

(f) The commission may adopt rules for the implementation of this section. The rules may include procedures and standards

regarding vegetation management, public power safety shutoffs and restorations, pole materials, circuitry, and monitoring systems.

(g) In its decision pursuant to subsection (e), the commission shall determine the reasonable costs to develop, implement, and administer the plan and shall authorize the electric utility to recover the costs in rates. The commission shall establish a method to allow timely recovery of the costs it authorizes for recovery. The commission shall assess these costs on a statewide basis based on the development, implementation, and administration costs for the plan; provided that the commission shall not assess the costs based on the utility service territory that is particularly affected by any aspect of the plan. The electric utility shall track the costs it incurs to develop, implement, and administer the plan.

In its submission under subsection (d), the electric utility shall report on the costs as actually incurred for the most recent past period for which the information is

available. If the actual costs are:

(1) Less than the amounts the commission determined were reasonable in its decision under subsection (e), the commission shall direct the electric utility to refund or credit the costs to ratepayers; and

(2) Equal to or greater than the amounts the commission determined were reasonable in its decision under subsection (e), then the commission shall not direct the electric utility to refund to ratepayers the amount the commission previously determined was reasonable, but may disallow the recovery from ratepayers of any additional costs the commission finds were unreasonable. In connection with any review:

(A) Actual costs that are not more than fifteen per cent greater than the costs the commission previously determined were reasonable shall be presumed prudent and authorized for recovery from ratepayers absent proof by clear and convincing evidence that the costs were unreasonable; and

(B) The electric utility shall have the burden of proving the reasonableness of actual costs that are more than fifteen per cent greater than the costs the commission previously determined were reasonable.

(h) For the purposes of this section:

"Commission" means the public utilities commission.

"Electric utility" means a public utility that exists for the furnishing of electric power.

"Plan" means the risk-based wildfire mitigation plan described in subsection (d)."

SECTION 2. New statutory material is underscored.

SECTION 3. This Act shall take effect on July 1, 2040.

Report Title:

PUC; Wildfires; Deenergizing Electrical Lines; Notification; Telecommunications; Electric Utilities; Mitigation Plan; Rulemaking

Description:

Requires all telecommunications service providers to communicate relevant information relating to the deenergization of electrical lines to public safety or emergency response offices for the affected areas. Requires all electric utilities to operate electrical lines and equipment in a manner that shall minimize the risk of catastrophic wildfire posed by the electrical lines and equipment. Requires each electric utility to prepare a wildfire mitigation plan approved by the Public Utilities Commission and protocols for deenergizing electrical lines. Allows the Public Utilities Commission to adopt rules. Takes effect 7/1/2040. (SD2)

The summary description of legislation appearing on this page is for informational purposes only and is not legislation or evidence of legislative intent.