HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Renewable energy advocates are pushing back on the state’s move to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) to reduce energy costs and power outages.

This as Japanese company JERA is a step closer to building a $1.5 billion power plant on Oahu, having applied for a federal permit to build an offshore terminal to bring in the condensed LNG.

Local Power Hawaii, a new coalition of organizations, advocates, and community members, is urging local leaders to closely scrutinize JERA’s proposal, saying the plan could require more than $2 billion in infrastructure costs alone and take focus away from affordable clean energy projects.

Ben Sullivan, a former Kauai Island Utility Cooperative board member and former City and County of Honolulu Chief Resilience Officer, is part of Local Power Hawaii and joined HNN’s Sunrise to talk about the ongoing debate over LNG.

“Investing in LNG diverts resources, delays solutions, and creates ongoing fossil fuel dependence,” he says. “It’s simply not the answer.”

“Oahu uses fossil fuel for almost 70 percent of our electricity generation,” Sullivan adds. “We don’t need to switch from one fossil fuel to another, we need to reduce the amount of fossil fuel we depend on overall and do so as quickly as is practical.”

He added that while the Hawaii State Energy Office’s study in January 2025 showed significant savings from switching from oil to LNG, there were major math errors that forced the Energy Office to reissue the report recently with revised recommendations.

“Their entire study is looking at the cost of one fossil fuel versus another and never gives proper consideration to the numerous lower cost non-fuel alternatives that we have access to,” Sullivan said.

JERA says its plant could provide nearly half of Oahu’s electricity and meet the state’s renewable energy goal by 2045 by switching to a renewable fuel at a later time, but provided no details.

Critics say JERA’s plan advanced without meaningful public input, legislative approval or binding consumer protections.

Local Power Hawaii says it supports a transition to 100% renewable energy that protects ratepayers, strengthens energy independence and expands investment in locally generated power and opposes proposals that would lock the state into decades of imported LNG dependence.

For more information, visit localpowerhawaii.org.