HR 196 Hawaii House · 2026 Regular Session

REQUESTING THE HAWAII STATE ENERGY OFFICE TO CONVENE A WORKING GROUP TO STUDY THE POTENTIAL IMPACTS OF LARGE DATA CENTERS ON HAWAII'S ELECTRIC UTILITIES, RATEPAYERS, NATURAL RESOURCES, AND CLIMATE GOALS.

This bill requests the Hawaii State Energy Office to form a working group to study the potential impacts of large data centers on the state's electric utilities, ratepayers, natural resources, and climate goals. The working group will include representatives from state agencies, electric utilities, consumer advocates, and environmental organizations to examine how these energy-intensive facilities could affect Hawaii's isolated power grids and water resources. The group will evaluate policy options such as ensuring data center developers pay for necessary grid upgrades and protecting existing customers from higher utility bills. This study is proactive, preparing Hawaii for potential future data center proposals while considering the state's constitutional duty to protect natural resources and meet its renewable energy targets.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2026

Committee Review

Apr 2026

House Passage

Apr 2026

Senate Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 16, 2026 Last action Apr 9, 2026

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

HR196 → HR196_HD1 · 3 edits

MINOR

The bill was renumbered from HR 196 to HR 196 HD1, indicating it has been referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. The most significant substantive change is in the definition of the data centers the bill covers: the scope was narrowed to specifically include only facilities requiring five megawatts or more in instantaneous demand, rather than all large data centers. This threshold ensures the study focuses on facilities with a substantial enough impact on the grid to warrant regulatory review.

Scope change

The bill's scope was narrowed to apply only to large data centers with an instantaneous electricity demand of five megawatts or more.

SCOPE

Added a specific threshold of 'five megawatts or more in instantaneous demand' to define which data centers the working group will study.

TECHNICAL

The bill title was updated from 'HR196' to 'HR196 HD1', reflecting its status as House Draft 1.

Internal metadata, including file names, dates, and tracking numbers, were updated to reflect the new draft version.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the House by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Resolution adopted in final form.

lower

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Adopted with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and Representative(s) Cochran excused (1).

lower

Apr 9, 2026

Lower · Passed

Reported from FIN (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1939-26), recommending adoption.

lower

Apr 7, 2026

Lower · Passed

The committee on FIN recommend that the measure be PASSED, UNAMENDED. The votes were as follows: 15 Ayes: Representative(s) Todd, Takenouchi, Hartsfield, Hussey, Keohokapu-Lee Loy, Kitagawa, Kusch, Lee, M., Miyake, Perruso, Templo, Yamashita, Alcos, Gedeon, Reyes Oda; Ayes with reservations: none; Noes: none; and 1 Excused: Representative(s) Morikawa.

lower

Apr 1, 2026

Lower · Passed

Report adopted; referred to the committee(s) on FIN as amended in HD 1 with none voting aye with reservations; none voting no (0) and none excused (0).

lower

Apr 1, 2026

Committee

Reported from EEP (Stand. Com. Rep. No. 1616-26) as amended in HD 1, recommending referral to FIN.

lower

Mar 24, 2026

Lower · Passed

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

lower

Mar 18, 2026

Committee

Referred to EEP, FIN, referral sheet 19

lower

Mar 16, 2026

Introduced

Offered

lower

13 primary · 0 co-sponsors