The People's Ledger
← All Hawaii bills

HB339Introduced in the House

Relating To Electric Utilities.

IntroducedHouse Finance

Introduced by Nicole Lowen, District 7

What does this bill do?

Plain-English breakdown

Writing a plain-English summary of this bill… this can take a few seconds the first time.

Official description

Part I: Requires the Public Utilities Commission to impose certain conditions of approval on any order approving, in whole or in part, an application for the proposed acquisition, merger, or consolidation of an electric utility company by an acquiring entity. Establishes a process to ensure that when an electric utility is subject to an application for a proposed acquisition, merger, or consolidation by a potential acquiring entity that is an investor-owned utility and seeks approval of the application from the Public Utilities Commission, it must demonstrate that it solicited bids from potential acquiring entities that operate under a non-investor-owned utility ownership model. Requires the electric utility to submit those acceptable bids concurrently with an application by a potential acquiring entity that is an investor-owned utility. Part II: Authorizes the issuance of reimbursable GO bonds for acquiring Hawaiian Electric Industries and converting it to a publicly owned utility. Authorizes the establishment of a non-bypassable electric utility conversion charge, to be deposited into the new Electric Utility Conversion Special Fund. Appropriates Funds. Effective 7/1/3000. (HD2)

Where it stands

Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.

December 8, 2025

How did lawmakers vote?

No recorded vote is available for this bill yet.

What do people think?

Citizen Voice

How would you vote on this bill?

An unofficial public opinion poll. It does not affect the bill or the official vote.

One response per device. Location is self-reported and not verified. Results are informal and not a scientific survey.

Bill history

  1. Pending introduction.

  2. Introduced and Pass First Reading.

  3. Referred to EEP, CPC, FIN, referral sheet 1

  4. Bill scheduled to be heard by EEP on Tuesday, 01-28-25 9:00AM in House conference room 325 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

  5. The committee on EEP recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 4 Ayes: Representative(s) Lowen, Perruso, Kahaloa, Kusch; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Quinlan, Ward.

  6. Reported from EEP (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 90) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CPC.

  7. Passed Second Reading as amended in HD 1 and referred to the committee(s) on CPC with Representative(s) Garcia, Pierick voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Kong, Ward excused (3).

  8. Bill scheduled to be heard by CPC on Thursday, 02-13-25 2:00PM in House conference room 329 VIA VIDEOCONFERENCE.

  9. The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 9 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Chun, Ilagan, Ichiyama, Kong, Lowen, Marten, Tam; Ayes with reservations: Representative(s) Iwamoto; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Pierick.

  10. Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 780) as amended in HD 2, recommending referral to FIN.

  11. Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 2 with Representative(s) Amato, Pierick voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Matayoshi, Poepoe, Ward excused (4).

  12. Carried over to 2026 Regular Session.

Verify the information

Our commitment to neutrality

We provide factual information only. We never tell you which politicians or bills to support, and we do not rank, score, or endorse anyone.