The following testimony was submitted by the Grassroot Institute of Hawaii for consideration by the Hawai‘i County Council on Feb. 19, 2025.
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Feb. 19, 2025, 9 a.m.
Hawai‘i County Building
To: Hawai‘i County Council
Holeka Goro Inaba, Chair
Dennis “Fresh” Onishi, Vice-Chair
From: Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
Jonathan Helton, Policy Researcher
RE: Bill 12 (2025) — RELATING TO THE ELECTRICAL CODE
Aloha Chair Inaba, Vice-Chair Onishi and other members of the Council,
The Grassroot Institute of Hawaii supports Bill 12 (2025), which would exempt from the County electrical code work performed by an electrical utility on generating plants, various stations and lines controlled by the utility.
Such an exemption would help speed up the permit process for everyone. Hawaii Electric Light Co. and its customers would benefit since it could perform work in a more timely manner. And with fewer permits in the queue, all other applicants for electrical permits could also see swifter permit issuance times.
Honolulu’s code contains a similar exemption for “work performed by an electric utility on electrical installations and equipment owned by or under the direct control of the electric utility, and located on real property provided by the electric utility’s customers pursuant to rules established by the public utilities commission of the State of Hawaii.”[1]
Likewise, Maui’s code states: “This Code shall not apply to the following: … Electrical work by an electrical utility on structures and facilities relating to the generation and distribution of electricity. If a person or entity requests an exemption for electrical work under this provision, the person or entity shall have the burden of demonstrating to the satisfaction of the director that the person or entity is an electrical utility, as defined in this Code, and that the electrical work complies with this section.”[2]
Kaua‘i County also allows an exemption for work on certain utility-owned electrical equipment,[3] leaving Hawai‘i County as the only county without some kind of exemption for electric utilities.
In fact, every other county has at least nine exemptions in their electrical codes, including for work on buildings owned by the federal or state government, certain telecommunications equipment, certain air conditioners and refrigeration systems and traffic lights.
Currently, Hawai‘i County provides only one exemption from the electrical code, a boilerplate for work and installations not covered by the code.
Please consider expanding this scope of this bill to include many of the exemptions used in other counties.
Grassroot would welcome further discussion about this matter.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify.
Jonathan Helton
Policy Researcher
Grassroot Institute of Hawaii
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[1] Revised Ordinances of Honolulu, § 17-1.1 Adoption of the State Electrical Code., accessed Jan. 16, 2025
[2] Maui County Code, 16.18B.090(2)(b) – Subsection 90.2(B) amended., accessed Jan. 16, 2025.
[3] Kauai County Code, § 13-1.3 Scope., accessed Jan. 16, 2025.
