Regulator approves LNG plan for island’s energy future
Plans for Bermuda to use liquefied natural gas as its main fuel for generating electricity would not deliver genuine energy independence to the island, according to Greenrock.
Eugene Dean, the chairman of the sustainability charity, said that LNG still produced harmful carbon emissions and that investment in the fuel would take money away from renewable projects.
He made the comments after the Regulatory Authority approved the latest Integrated Resource Plan, which sets out Bermuda’s energy future for the foreseeable future.
The IRP, submitted by energy supplier Belco, appeared to reverse the previous IRP approved by the RA, which emphasised a much faster conversion to renewable energies such as solar and wind power.
It argued that switching to liquefied natural gas as Bermuda’s primary fuel source, while adding offshore wind and increasing solar capacity, would decarbonise the energy mix, improve resilience and keep supply affordable, according to the 2026 Integrated Resource Plan.
The 2026 IRP aims to help navigate the challenges facing the island’s electricity system by comparing long‑term pathways and identifying a preferred direction. It is a planning framework and does not approve projects or commit to investments.
A proposal focusing on a move away from heavy fuels to LNG for thermal generation, while also combining new solar and wind generation, came out on top of a list of scenarios modelled in the document.
By 2050, the preferred pathway chosen in the plan is predicted to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 64 per cent and bring renewable energy generation up to 52 per cent. It is estimated to have a total expenditure of $7.85 billion.
However, Mr Dean said LNG still produced harmful carbon emissions and that investment in the fuel would take money away from renewable projects.
While welcoming the proposed expansion of solar, offshore wind and battery storage, he said Greenrock did not support adopting LNG without “significantly” more independent analysis.
He said: “[The IRP] does not clearly demonstrate that the complete life-cycle emissions associated with LNG — including methane leakage during extraction, processing and transportation — have been fully accounted for.
“When these upstream emissions are considered, LNG’s climate advantage over fuel oil can be significantly reduced.”
Liquefied natural gas is natural gas that has been cooled to a liquid by lowering its temperature to -260F.
According to the US Department of Energy, this process reduces its volume about 600 times.
Turning the gas into a liquid state makes transport easier. LNG is moved around the world using specially made double-hulled ships.
Mr Dean added: “Bermuda would remain dependent on an imported fossil fuel whose price and availability are affected by international markets and geopolitical instability.
“This would not deliver genuine energy independence or eliminate fuel-price volatility.”
The charity chairman believes the island should undertake a “transparent” and “independent” comparison of LNG against other options, using full life-cycle emissions and updated infrastructure costs.
“The proposed 52 per cent renewable generation by 2050 is progress but it should be considered a minimum rather than the limit of Bermuda’s ambition,” Mr Dean said.
Referring to the previous IRP that went through consultation in 2018 and was approved the following year, rejecting LNG, he added: “We encouraged the general public to respond to the RA.
“These responses were largely in favour of renewable energy. The IRP that was created supported that. That was a proud moment. The general public felt respected.
“Eight years later it’s a complete turn. The same people who were feeling proud of the decision then are now being met with a door being slammed in their face.”
Mr Dean said: “The main challenge we face in Bermuda is leadership. There are many good people in government, politics and authorities, like the RA, who do their utmost to serve the interests of our country and it's people.
“However, in the absence of leaders that wholeheartedly align with that fundamental intention, they, like average residents or citizens, can find it increasingly difficult to effect positive change.”
Asked why LNG had received the go-ahead in the latest plan, after being rejected in the previous one, the RA said it was unable to comment.
Bermuda’s electricity system is operated as a single, island-wide network, with Belco holding the sole transmission, distribution and retail licence.
The company’s central power station in Pembroke uses fuel‑oil‑fired reciprocating engines and gas turbines to deliver electricity to more than 36,000 customers.
The IRP concluded that there was an immediate need to initiate studies on LNG, while offshore wind and floating solar procurements should continue.
Three days after the 2026 Integrated Resource Plan was published, Alexa Lightbourne, the Minister of Home Affairs, said the process had been suspended.
Shortly afterwards, however, it was confirmed the new plan would “continue in effect”.
Ms Lightbourne said the suspension was in place in order for the next IRP to align with the Government’s latest National Electricity Sector Policy.
Belco and the RA have launched legal action over the Government’s decision.
The minister told The Royal Gazette that no commitment had been made to any single primary fuel source and that the latest electricity policy was “intentionally technology agnostic”.
Ms Lightbourne said policy is intended to inform the IRP.
She said: “The NESP 2026, published in July, carries that policy to 2045 on three guiding principles: cost, reliability and equal access.
“The Integrated Resource Plan is a regulatory tool informed by data to facilitate the delivery of those objectives.
“It translates policy into generation, procurement and investment decisions, and its technical analysis carries real weight in that work.
“Policy must by law lead — the IRP follows.
“The IRP process was suspended for up to 18 months so that the plan would consider and incorporate the finalised national policy.”
Ms Lightbourne added: “The Government has not committed to LNG as Bermuda's primary fuel source, or to any other single fuel or technology in advance.
“The National Electricity Sector Policy 2026 is intentionally technology agnostic.
“Every generation option faces the same tests: cost to the customer, reliability, resilience and exposure to fuel price risk.
“The risk of locking Bermuda into large fossil fuel assets is a legitimate concern.”
On renewable energy projects, the minister explained that utility scale solar already feeds the grid from the six-megawatt facility at the airport, while the Government has designated seabed areas for floating solar development, with the RA having already invited developers for that work.
Ms Lightbourne added: “The RA also opened an international process for an initial 60-megawatt offshore wind development, with wind resource and seabed studies in progress.
“Questions on the status of those procurement processes sit with the authority.
“On the government side, the policy sets a rising renewable trajectory, reaching 35 per cent by 2040 and 50 per cent by 2050, and it backs the continued growth of distributed rooftop solar and energy efficiency, the fastest levers available to cut fuel imports and steady household bills.”
Ms Lightbourne said: “Fossil fuels supplied 91 per cent of Bermuda's electricity in 2025. Bermuda's tariffs sit among the highest in the region.
“Seven years passed between approved resource plans. That record evidences the extent to which the industry has been successfully regulated to achieve that objective.
“The Electricity Amendment Act 2026 makes consumer affordability protections integral to resource planning.
“The National Electricity Sector Policy 2026 gives the sector its first renewed framework in eleven years.
“Evidence will be confirmed through a steadier bill, a reliable grid and the commitment to the requirement of renewable generation to ensure that families have bills that are affordable.”
• To read the 2026 Integrated Resource Plan, see Related Media
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