HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The November increment from the three-month extension of the Prugråman Ayuda Para I Taotao-ta Energy Credit Program was officially applied to all qualified residential and commercial accounts on Wednesday, the Guam Power Authority announced in a press release. This is the $100 monthly credit that customers receive on their power bills. The last monthly credit, unless the program is extended again, will be applied to December billings.
“GPA is pleased to announce that (the) November energy credit of $100 was successfully uploaded to all active accounts today. We thank (the Department of Administration) for transmitting the funds, so our customers can receive the credit during this holiday season when they need it most. Customers can look forward to one more energy credit to their accounts under the current program,” acting GPA General Manager Beatrice P. Limtiaco stated in the release from the utility, published Wednesday.
GPA received $5.27 million in funding for the second credit from DOA on Dec. 26, the authority said in the release. Customers can check their online accounts to view their credits, GPA said in the release.
The energy credit program was first implemented last year, initially for five months. It has been extended through law after law, with the latest extension applying to energy billings from October through December of this year.
The end of the program would come about a month before the Public Utilities Commission, the rate-setting body on Guam, considers what the next rate should be for the Levelized Energy Adjustment Clause. This is the portion of the power bill that largely pays for the fuel used to power the island’s generators. The PUC is expected to decide the LEAC in late January 2024, which would then apply from the beginning of February 2024.
At the beginning of December, Sen. William Parkinson introduced Bill 208-37, a measure that would extend the long-standing program three more months, from January 2024 through March 2024.
Bill 208 would use fiscal year 2024 general fund revenues collected in excess of the adopted budget to fund the extension. The November report on the general fund from the Bureau of Budget and Management Research shows about $13 million in projected unobligated revenues. This is more than $2 million short of the $15.8 million that Bill 208 would appropriate for the January-March extension, but the excess could grow in subsequent months.
The total excess reported in November was actually more than $28.9 million, but $15.8 million was taken out to account for the October-December extension of the energy credit program.
Chalan Pago resident Vincent Takashy pays his power bill at the Gloria B. Nelson Public Service Building in Mangilao on Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023.
