by Ken Quintanilla

Guam - Hoping to ensure that the island's utilities are made available to the people of Guam as affordably and reliably as possible, the Consolidated Commission on Utilities meets this hour to discuss several matters specifically with the Guam Power Authority. CCU chairman Simon Sanchez tells KUAM News that tonight GPA management will submit its recommendation to pursue liquid natural gas as an alternative to oil.

"LNG is much cleaner, and it doesn't require the scrubbers and it works well in terms of affordability and in terms of protecting the air quality for Guam," he said, "and that's why I believe it's the leading recommendation and I'm pretty sure we're going to approve it tonight."

He says if approved, GPA would build a new power plant in the next five to seven years that would accommodate LNG with full implementation before the end of the decade. Sanchez adds LNG would save over a billion dollars over the next 30 years.

The CCU meanwhile will also discuss its idea of allowing ratepayers to opt out of its smart meters project and the possible fees that may be involved. And finally, after its successful refinancing last month, GPA will approve the rollback of its may rate increase that would give back about $9 million and hopefully take affect December 1 pending the PUC final approval.