HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) -
A law designed to provide incentives and ease the minds of electric vehicle owners isn't meeting its expectations because there's no enforcement to ensure it works. Act 89 was signed into law last April and went into effect immediately. It requires all parking lots with more than a hundred spaces to provide an electric vehicle charging station and a designated stall.
It’s one of the biggest complaints the state received from people who drive electric vehicles: others parking in their charging stations when they’re not supposed to.
But police are now cracking down on violators.
State Sen. Mike Gabbard, (D) Kapolei, Makakilo, parks his Nissan Leaf in this electric vehicle stall in Kapolei. But he remembers an incident months earlier when he ran into a small problem.
“I was kind of running low on juice and I live close by, but I needed to get a charge but spaces were being used but they weren’t EV’s,” Sen. Gabbard said.
The question of whether there should be any restrictions on people riding in the back of a pickup truck is on the minds of many people including lawmakers.
The fiery crash near Makua cave that involved 16 people piled in a pickup truck continues to raise more questions.
Some lawmakers say it is time to ban people from riding in the back of pickup trucks all together.
Thursday is the first Crossover at the State Capitol -- meaning if a bill doesn't move from the House to the Senate or vice versa, it's likely dead this legislative session.
After weeks of committee hearings, floor discussions and draft amendments, hundreds of Senate proposals are now heading to the House-- including a marijuana decriminalization bill, which passed unanimously today.
"It does not make smoking marijuana legal or lawful," clarified Senator Clayton Hee, addressing his colleagues in support of Senate Bill 472, Senate Draft 1.
It's been seven months since a fire knocked the Kahuku wind farm offline.
Work is underway to rebuild, but some want a second look to see if the project is even safe.
Kahuku's First Wind project barely got off the ground before it was hit with a blow.
The turbines spent seven months spinning and now seven months just sitting.
A fire in the battery storage facility knocked the system offline in August.
It was a first of it's kind technology - that went up in smoke.
Seven months after they started spinning, the Kahuku wind mills stopped because of a fire.
The fact that they're sitting idle is having an ripple effect that reaches your electric bill.
For seven months they were spinning in the wind.
"First seven months of operation it put about 52k megawatts of energy into the system," said Hawaiian Electric Company spokesperson Darren Pai.
A productive project - capable of powering 7,800 homes.
The biggest challenge for many Hawai'i residents who want to install solar water heaters or rooftop systems is the up front cost—which is why state lawmakers and industry experts are working on a way for more people to benefit from clean energy and it's savings by getting it with no money down.
"People are very concerned we have failed to address this issue," said newly-appointed House agriculture chair Rep. Jessica Wooley.
She said her committee finally passed a bill on Thursday that would require all imported GMO whole foods, meaning fresh produce, are labeled.
