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SB 1500 Hawaii Senate · 2025 Regular Session

RELATING TO ELECTRIC UTILITIES.

Summary
Authorizes the Public Utilities Commission to appoint a receiver to take temporary action necessary to assure continued adequate electric services from failing regulated investor-owned electric utilities. Requires an appointed receiver to recognize and maintain the terms and conditions of any existing collective bargaining agreement and prohibits the receiver from inducing or causing a reduction in force, or terminating a covered employee, other than for a cause consistent with any collective bargaining agreement. (CD1)
Issues: ✓ Labor & EmploymentSupports Labor & EmploymentRequires receivers to maintain collective bargaining agreements and prohibits layoffs without cause, directly protecting workers' rights under existing contracts.95% confidence
Bill status signed all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Jan 2025
Committee Review
Apr 2025
Senate Passage
Apr 2025
House Passage
Apr 2025
Signed into Law
Jul 2025
Introduced Jan 22, 2025 Signed Jul 2, 2025
Maddy AI version diff · 4 comparisons

What changed between versions

SB1500_SD1 → SB1500_SD2 · 5 edits
MODERATE
This bill expands the Public Utilities Commission's authority to appoint a receiver for electric utilities facing financial or service failures, adding explicit protections for employees and collective bargaining agreements that were not present in the previous version. The changes also extend funding appropriations to cover fiscal year 2026-2027 and update the effective date to July 1, 2050.
Scope change
The bill now explicitly includes regulated investor-owned electric utilities in the receiver appointment authority, whereas the prior version focused primarily on water and sewer utilities.
REQUIREMENT

New requirement that appointed receivers must maintain existing collective bargaining agreements and cannot reduce staff or terminate employees except for cause consistent with those agreements.

FISCAL

Extended appropriations to include fiscal year 2026-2027 for costs related to determining whether to appoint a receiver.

TIMELINE

Changed the effective date from July 1, 2050 to July 1, 2050 (no actual change in date, but formatting was updated in the second version).

ELIGIBILITY

Clarified that the commission can appoint a receiver for electric utilities when there is an urgent, serious, and imminent threat to their ability to provide adequate services.

TECHNICAL

Removed placeholder text and formatting artifacts from the first draft version.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).
Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions
54
Key actions
22
Committee
24
Amendments
2
Apr 30, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed Final Reading as amended in CD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Kong voting no (1) and Representative(s) Cochran, Pierick excused (2).
lower
Apr 30, 2025
Upper · Passed
Passed Final Reading, as amended (CD 1). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . 0 No(es): none. 0 Excused: none.
upper
Apr 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
Reported from Conference Committee (Conf Com. Rep. No. 202) as amended in (CD 1).
lower
Apr 25, 2025
Introduced
48 Hrs. Notice (as amended CD 1) 04-30-25.
upper
Apr 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
Reported from Conference Committee as amended CD 1 (Conf. Com. Rep. No. 202).
upper
Apr 25, 2025
Lower · Passed
The Conference Committee recommends that the measure be Passed, with Amendments. The votes were as follows: 3 Ayes: Representative(s) Lowen, Sayama, Takenouchi; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Reyes Oda.
lower
Apr 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
The Conference committee recommends that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes of the Senate Conference Managers were as follows: 3 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Wakai, Richards; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) Awa.
upper
Apr 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-25-25 5:30 PM; Conference Room 224.
upper
Apr 25, 2025
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-25-25 3:50 PM; Conference Room 224.
upper
Apr 24, 2025
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting to reconvene on 04-25-25 1:30PM; Conference Room 224.
upper
Apr 23, 2025
Lower · Passed
Conference Committee Meeting will reconvene on Thursday 04-24-25 1:30PM in conference room 224.
lower
Apr 22, 2025
Upper · Passed
Conference committee meeting scheduled for 04-23-25 1:35PM; Conference Room 224.
upper
Apr 4, 2025
Amended
Senate disagrees with House amendments.
upper
Apr 4, 2025
Introduced
Received from House (Hse. Com. No. 495).
upper
Apr 3, 2025
Lower · Passed
Passed Third Reading with none voting aye with reservations; Representative(s) Kong voting no (1) and Representative(s) Cochran, Woodson excused (2). Transmitted to Senate.
lower
Mar 31, 2025
Lower · Passed
The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 14 Ayes: Representative(s) Yamashita, Takenouchi, Grandinetti, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lamosao, Lee, M., Miyake, Morikawa, Templo, Alcos, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Holt, Ward.
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Committee
Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran, Garrett, Kapela, Kitagawa, Ward excused (5).
lower
Mar 21, 2025
Committee
Reported from CPC (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1473), recommending referral to FIN.
lower
Mar 19, 2025
Lower · Passed
The committee on CPC recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 8 Ayes: Representative(s) Matayoshi, Chun, Ichiyama, Iwamoto, Kong, Lowen, Tam, Pierick; Ayes with reservations: none; 0 Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Ilagan, Marten.
lower
Mar 13, 2025
Committee
Reported from EEP/LAB (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1206) as amended in HD 1, recommending passage on Second Reading and referral to CPC.
lower
Mar 11, 2025
Lower · Passed
The committee on LAB recommend that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes were as follows: 6 Ayes: Representative(s) Sayama, Lee, M., Garrett, Kapela, Kong, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and Excused: none.
lower
Mar 11, 2025
Lower · Passed
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; Noes: none; and 2 Excused: Representative(s) Quinlan, Ward.
lower
Mar 6, 2025
Committee
Referred to EEP/LAB, CPC, FIN, referral sheet 19
lower
Mar 4, 2025
Introduced
Received from Senate (Sen. Com. No. 355) in amended form (SD 2).
lower
Mar 4, 2025
Upper · Passed
Report adopted; Passed Third Reading, as amended (SD 2). Ayes, 25; Aye(s) with reservations: none . Noes, 0 (none). Excused, 0 (none). Transmitted to House.
upper
Feb 26, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on WAM recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in WAM were as follows: 13 Aye(s): Senator(s) Dela Cruz, Moriwaki, Aquino, DeCoite, Elefante, Hashimoto, Inouye, Kanuha, Kidani, Kim, Lee, C., Wakai, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.
upper
Feb 24, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on WAM will hold a public decision making on 02-26-25 10:04AM; Conference Room 211 & Videoconference.
upper
Feb 14, 2025
Committee
Reported from CPN/EIG (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 537) with recommendation of passage on Second Reading, as amended (SD 1) and referral to WAM.
upper
Feb 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on EIG recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in EIG were as follows: 5 Aye(s): Senator(s) Wakai, Chang, DeCoite, Richards, Fevella; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 0 Excused: none.
upper
Feb 11, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on CPN recommend(s) that the measure be PASSED, WITH AMENDMENTS. The votes in CPN were as follows: 4 Aye(s): Senator(s) Keohokalole, Fukunaga, Richards, Awa; Aye(s) with reservations: none ; 0 No(es): none; and 1 Excused: Senator(s) McKelvey.
upper
Feb 6, 2025
Upper · Passed
The committee(s) on CPN/EIG has scheduled a public hearing on 02-11-25 9:30AM; Conference Room 229 & Videoconference.
upper
Jan 27, 2025
Committee
Referred to CPN/EIG, WAM.
upper
Jan 23, 2025
Introduced
Introduced and passed First Reading.
upper
Jan 22, 2025
Introduced
Pending Introduction.
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors

Sponsors

Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Photo of Glenn Wakai
Glenn Wakai
DDemocratic
HI
15