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Hawaiian Electric Says It Might Pull The Plug On Giant Battery - Honolulu Civil Beat
Hawaiian Electric Says It Might Pull The Plug On Giant Battery
Regulators gave the green light to the project, which they say is needed to keep Oahu’s lights on, but with conditions the company opposes. Reading time: 6 minutes.
Hawaiian Electric might pull the plug on a proposed energy storage project designed to help replace a coal-burning power plant that is Oahu’s largest single source of electricity, the company said in response to an order from regulators allowing the storage project to go forward but with numerous conditions.
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The proposed measure, HB 1142, would apply a 1 percent general excise tax surcharge on cars with a manufacturer s suggested retail price, or MSRP, of more than $60,000. The collected funds would go int a Public Utilities Commission special fund for electric vehicle charging stations.
The bill was heard at the House Committee on Consumer Protection and Commerce Tuesday.
Those opposing the bill included car dealers, which argue that family vehicles and work trucks would be subject to the additional tax.
Brad Nicolai, president and CEO of JN Automotive Group, noted the negative effects of a national luxury tax from the 1990s. If we just referenced what happened in 1991, when there was a luxury tax of 10 percent that was imposed on vehicles that were over $30,000, it had a negative impact over two years in which nationally our industry declined over 23 percent, Nicolai said. What that means is we re coming out of a pandemic. In March of this year, we had to lay off 50 percen