Guam § 8601 - Legislative Findings and Intent.

§ 8601. Legislative Findings and Intent.

(a) I Liheslaturan Guåhan recognizes that Guam’s reliance on imported fossil fuels causes the island

to be vulnerable to volatile oil prices. On average, nearly seventy percent (70%) of a ratepayer’s power bill

is attributed to the cost of fuel that is driven by the global oil market.

(b) I Liheslatura further finds that over the past decade, the prevalence of renewable energy

opportunities (e.g., solar photovoltaic systems) has been helpful with lowering the cost of utility bills to

residents and businesses who could afford such investment. The Guam Power Authority (GPA) has added

over one hundred twenty-five megawatts (125 MW) of utility-scale renewable energy and energy storage

from solar farms in Inalåhan and Mangilao, and strategically placed battery energy storage systems; and

GPA’s 2022 Integrated Resource Plan anticipates over one hundred eighty megawatts (180+ MW) in

additional renewable energy projects.

(c) I Liheslatura further finds that both the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and the GPA have

asserted that solar energy is currently the most viable form of renewable energy for Guam. Renewable

energy is currently cheaper than power produced by fossil fuels and its cost is far less volatile than the fossil

fuel industry, despite intermittency concerns. The use of renewable energy reduces the fuel costs for power

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production which should in turn reduce the cost of power bills; and the island’s need for an efficient,

affordable and independent fuel supply for power production can be met with renewable energy.

(d) I Liheslatura finds that utilizing qualified rooftops on Guam presents solutions to Guam’s limited

land inventory; and rooftop solar systems reduce the need for land while utilizing spaces that are currently

not being utilized.

(e) I Liheslatura finds that rooftop solar systems provide an opportunity to develop distributed

generation or decentralized power, whereby the power generated for the energy grid comes from numerous

sources distributed across the grid rather than from centralized power plants or solar farms. Distributed

generation may reduce the costs of transmission and line loss while improving both the efficiency and

resiliency of the energy grid as a whole.

(f) I Liheslatura finds that the only rooftop solar program currently available through GPA is the Net

Energy Metering (NEM) program. However, GPA and the Consolidated Commission on Utilities (CCU)

have asserted that the NEM program is cost prohibitive for the utility. The NEM program allows

homeowners and businesses to produce energy via rooftop solar systems. Excess energy produced by NEM

customers is fed back into the energy grid. The NEM customer is then credited on a one-to-one ratio based

on the net energy they produce. GPA and the CCU have asserted that this amounts to the power authority

purchasing solar power from homeowners at the same rate at which they sell power to other customers,

while the cost of energy acquired through current utility-scale solar contracts are significantly less

expensive.

(g) I Liheslatura finds that a Virtual Power Plant Program provides an alternative rooftop solar

program that addresses the challenges of the NEM program while promoting more accessible, affordable,

and clean renewable energy. In this way, GPA is able to structure the Virtual Power Plant rooftop solar

program in a manner that generates cheaper and cleaner power for the grid, maintains the stream of revenues

necessary for the operations of the overall energy grid, broadens the access of renewable energy to

ratepayers, lessens its reliance on imported fossil fuels, lessens the need for land, lowers utility bills, and

works toward Guam’s overall renewable energy goal. This program adds renewable energy to the grid

through a distributed generation model with no cost to homeowners and zero upfront cost to the utility

while decreasing the overall cost of fuel thus decreasing rates for all customers. A Virtual Power Plant

Program enables GPA to manage the energy produced through a network of Solar Hosts with rooftop solar

photovoltaic systems and battery energy storage systems as if the network was itself a power plant.

(h) It is, therefore, the intent of I Liheslatura to mandate that the GPA establish a Virtual Power Plant

Program for the purpose of providing clean renewable distributed generation of energy to advance the

renewable portfolio standard.

(i) Moreover, it is the intent of I Liheslatura:

(1) to create a Virtual Power Plant Program;

(2) to provide access to qualified homeowners, businesses, government agencies and non-profit

organizations who wish to participate as Solar Hosts of solar photovoltaic systems;

(3) for GPA to achieve its renewable portfolio standards goals pursuant to § 8311 of Article 3 of

this Title;

(4) to stimulate job growth and economic development in the local renewable energy industry;

(5) to reduce Guam’s reliance on imported fuel;

(6) to reduce fuel costs thus creating greater savings to all utility customers; and

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(7) to add energy security and resiliency to Guam’s power grid.