Deputy State Energy Officer Stephen Walls walked into a Senate budget briefing on Wednesday prepared to discuss matching funds for a few energy infrastructure grants and his office's staffing needs.
Instead, he learned that the Hawaiʻi State Energy Office was being stripped from the state supplemental budget bill entirely.
Walls said it took him a minute to process what was happening as Ways and Means Chair Donovan Dela Cruz offhandedly remarked that the office's funding would be placed in a separate bill, SB3282.
If passed, that bill would restructure HSEO as the Energy Division under the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism.
Although HSEO is currently affiliated with DBEDT, as of 2019, the chief energy officer is a cabinet-level position that reports directly to the governor.
Dela Cruz told HPR that HSEO's funding "could be impacted" by the move. He did not clarify further.
"We weren't notified in advance," Walls said. "We don't really have specifics at this point. So the uncertainty is weighing on us."
Walls brought this news back to Chief Energy Officer Mark Glick, who has reached out to the Department of the Attorney General and Gov. Josh Green's office for guidance.
Glick said neither the AG's office nor the governor's team was aware of the potential changes to HSEO's budget, which is just over $2.5 million.
"It would seem inconceivable to me that there would be any interest in reducing our budget during this critical time. So honestly, I can't imagine that scenario," Glick said. "But again, this is all news to me."
HSEO is the main vehicle through which the state receives federal funding to support energy investments, and Glick said that any interruption to HSEO's status would put those funding pools in jeopardy.
"We've got tens of millions of grant applications in the process of being approved," Glick said. "So if we don't have a budget, then those tens of millions of dollars would be at risk."
Walls said staff at the energy office have been trying to get on with business since Wednesday's meeting, but the uncertainty over the future of their funding has put everyone on edge.
"It's taking up air in the room for sure," Walls said. "Everyone has questions for us, and they're just trying to do their job."
The Senate Ways and Means Committee will reconvene to discuss the supplementary budget bill on March 27.
This story aired on The Conversation on March 22, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
