Guam – There were several contentious moments at the legislature during Guam Power Authority’s oversight hearing as not only was the issue of illegal pay raises at the agency scrutinized but also net metering.
Senator Clynt Ridgell, who has oversight over power and utilities, provided a recap on what went down with the proposed new rates for reimbursement of those who generate their own power through solar energy to K57’s Phil Leon Guerrero.
While GPA did their best to alleviate the concerns and explain their position to the senator, he said, “I disagree with their position. Essentially GPA wants to lower the rate at which they credit consumers for the solar power they are feeding back into the system.”
He said that the net metering program credits the consumer for the power fed back into the power grid, which was generated by solar panels. For the energy fed into the system, the ratepayer is charged a 1 to 1 ratio, the senator said what they charge for electricity, they credit solar panel owners.
For some with solar power, the credit zeroes out their power bill or significantly reduces their bill. But GPA wants to lower that credit.
In reaction, the senator said he doesn’t understand their logic in saying that there needs to be a reduction to the rate at which they buy electricity from the average customer.
