A plan for Guam Department of Education to go solar, and save the cash-strapped agency loads of money on its power bills has been stalled for many months.

The issue came to a head during today's Consolidated Commission on Utilities (CCU) work session, when a very frustrated Chairman Joey Duenas lashed out, blaming a delayed study squarely on GDOE’s former leadership.

Duenas said, “I’m really upset, and I'll tell you why I’m upset, because when DOE first went down this road, the legislature passed a law. I talked to Jon Fernandez who was superintendent at the time. I made several approaches to him, I said let’s sit down and let's talk about how you're going to do this so we do it the right way. He never responded to me, never responded to me.”

“And then when Senator Joe S. San Agustin asked him in a public hearing, isn't GPA helping you, he didn’t say a word, he kinda skirted the issue. I'm tired of that, I'm really pissed at that, I'm not running anymore so I dont give a damn. I'm gonna tell you, I blame him. I blame him and his people okay. And somebody jumped the gun and said, ‘oh let’s just do it.’ And they did it, and it sat on their roof and I know the frustration of some people, hey that should've come in, that should be saving GPA, i mean GDOE some money. Yes it should. But there's a right way to do it and they did it the wrong way,” he added.

Duenas said he's all for the idea of GDOE saving money by going solar, but it can't be on the backs of the ratepayers.

Since then a third party contractor has been brought in to complete a study on how to integrate the proposed 2.7 megawatts of solar power into the islandwide power system.

The study is expected to be finalized by the end of March.