HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — With a family of five and a recent power bill of around $650, Vincent Estella said “any little bit” the government could provide would help tackle rising energy bills. The same was said by a few other residents about the governor’s proposal to grant every ratepayer a $100 monthly credit to offset the cost of power for five months. However, within that bit of optimism is a concern about how government officials will fund the program.
Estella said it might mean tax increases or cutting costs elsewhere.
“Anything the government can give would help, but, at the end of the day, it depends on how they intend to pay for that money that they’re giving out for free. Because nothing is free,” he said.
For now, it appears that funding will come out of the General Fund, which has been seeing collections in excess of adopted revenues year after year.
“Thankfully, because our government eliminated its General Fund deficit and spent less than it collected in each of the last three years, we have the local funds to give our people relief,” Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said, as she discussed the credit program during her State of the Island address delivered June 22.
The governor has tasked the Legislature with providing her a bill to authorize the program, stating that she would sign it, just as she signed the recently passed moratorium on liquid fuel taxes and surcharges, which cut some cents off prices at the gas pump.
While motorists have seen increases in the price of gasoline, the Guam Power Authority has similarly contended with price spikes in the fuel needed to power island generators, leading to increases in the cost of power.
Details on legislation for the proposed power rate credit are scarce, however.
The governor said she has been working with Sen. Joe San Agustin and his legislative committee on appropriations for the credit program. But well before her State of the Island address, it was reported that GPA had been in discussion with the governor and San Agustin about how to address the rising cost of power.
The Guam Daily Post submitted inquiries to San Agustin’s office, before and after the June 22 State of the Island address, about legislation to curb power costs and then about the announced credit program, but has not received a response.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, along with the resulting sanctions and supply-chain disruptions, is a major driving force behind recent surges in the cost of fuel.
In her State of the Island address, the governor said federal law does not allow her to use pandemic funds to combat a non-Covid-19-related emergency. But in the same address, Leon Guerrero also announced an expansion of the Prugràman Saláppe’ direct aid program.
The executive order for that expansion was issued Thursday, and makes note of upcoming power rate increases in addition to the high price of gas on Guam. As Prugràman Saláppe’ utilizes American Rescue Plan funds, the Post inquired why the governor’s office could not justify the use of ARP for the proposed power rate credit program, the same way it had justified the funding for Prugràman Saláppe’.
There are income eligibility requirements for Prugràman Saláppe’ based on federal rules for direct aid. Krystal Paco-San Agustin, the governor’s director of communications, stated the $100 credit program is intended for everyone and “is not appropriate for American Rescue Plan funds.”
“As Governor Leon Guerrero stated during her State of the Island address, if we use the General Fund to fund the power credit, it is not subject to ARP income limitations,” Paco-San Agustin said.
People line up in the cashier line at the Guam Power Authority and Guam Waterworks Authority satellite office on June 20 at the Julale Shopping Center in Hagåtña.
