The ongoing climate crisis poses significant risks to our island home. Rising seas, ocean acidification, warming waters and extreme weather will continue to affect Guam for years to come. While liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been marketed as “cleaner fuel” or “renewable fuel”, it is still a fossil fuel that is currently contributing to climate change. While LNG burns 60% less carbon dioxide than coal, Methane (the main component in LNG) is responsible for 25% of climate change to date. Methane also traps heat 87 times faster than Carbon Dioxide. LNG is not environmentally friendly nor is it a bridge fuel. LNG is also a volatile substance with a long history of spills and explosions.

This new power plant would provide the island with 60% of power. However, it would also lock us into decades of climate-disrupting fossil fuel use. Multiple reports have shown that LNG does not pose a substantial cost benefit over renewables when the total life cycle of the plant is assessed. Falling costs of renewable alternatives and the expansion of LNG infrastructure questions long term viability. A 2018 study by Rocky Mountain institute concluded that power distribution portfolios built around renewable energy will offer the same grid reliability at lower costs than gas generators by 2026. Such a shift would put billions of dollars of gas plants in jeopardy of becoming stranded assets. If this were to happen, it will be the Guam citizens who will have to shoulder this burden.

We are asking the Public Utilities Commission to deny the power plant agreement and to divest into renewable energy instead.