New Hawaii electricity cost disclosure

A new electricity disclosure law in Hawaii goes into effect on July 1, 2009. House Bill 1464 in an effort to bring new focus to energy efficiency and renewable energy sources requires that the owner-occupant seller make a good faith declaration of the electricity costs based on the previous three months of electricity bills.

There is language in the law that states:

Prior to the sale of residential real property, the property owner shall make a good faith declaration of electricity cost based on the most recent three-month period in which the property was occupied prior to the date of the seller’s disclosure, pursuant to chapter 508D. This declaration shall only apply where the owner directly pays the electrical utility bills, and shall not apply in the case of a foreclosure of residential real property or where there are no electric utility accounts associated with the property.

This new law is good on many levels. Hawaii has some of the highest rates of electricity in the country. With all of our renewable sources from the sun, wind, waves, etc, it should be widely known how much money that these renewable sources can save and that there is less of a surprise from new home owners moving to Hawaii. Hopefully this encourage more use of renewal energy sources as well as energy saving initiatives.