(a) The following persons shall be exempt from this chapter:

Terms Used In Hawaii Revised Statutes 448E-13

(1) All employees of a public utility within the State under a franchise or charter granted by the State that is regulated by the public utilities commission and community antennae television company, while so employed; and
(2) Employees of an electrical contractor duly licensed under chapter 444; provided that:

(A) The contractor is retained by a public utility within the State under a franchise or charter granted by the State that is regulated by the public utilities commission to perform high voltage electrical work for the public utility;
(B) After solicitation of a request for proposal to licensed contractors specifying the high voltage work requested, the public utility certifies to the board that no electricians, including electricians employed by C-62 pole and line or C-63 high voltage electrical contractors, responded to the request for proposal who were:

(i) Sufficiently qualified and licensed in the State; and
(ii) Available and able to perform or timely complete the high voltage electrical work or task, before the contractor hired by the public utility recruited qualified electricians outside the State; provided further that the public utility shall make its request for proposals available through its website in an electronic format to C-62 pole and line and C-63 high voltage electrical contractors;
(C) The public utility submits an annual report to the board covering the preceding calendar year that identifies, at a minimum:

(i) The number of qualified contractors the public utility employed to perform high voltage electrical work; and
(ii) The number of requests for proposals solicited for high voltage work;
(D) The employees are deemed qualified by the public utility to perform high voltage electrical work; and
(E) The exemption is limited to the use by a public utility for high voltage electrical workers who perform electric transmission and distribution line construction, maintenance, and connection to substation work;

provided further that in no circumstance shall the persons be less qualified than the public utility’s own employees who perform high voltage electrical work.

(b) Persons retained by a public utility pursuant to subsection (a)(2) shall be exempt from the provisions of section 444-9.5.
(c) For purposes of this section, “high voltage” means six hundred volts or higher.

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