Oahu residents may see lower prices from Hawaii Gas if the utility’s request to bring in more liquefied natural gas is approved.

Hawaii Gas filed an application with the Public Utilities Commission on Thursday seeking to import more LNG.

Currently, Hawaii Gas manufactures synthetic natural gas from an oil derivative for its utility customers on Oahu and distributes propane to customers throughout the state.

Hawaii Gas’ 28,000 Oahu customers on the synthetic natural gas pipeline are expected to save approximately $6 million per year and almost $90 million over the next 20 years if the switch to more LNG is approved. Hawaii Gas requested a conversion of 30 percent of its current supply of synthetic natural gas to liquefied natural gas and has its sights set on full LNG conversion.

"(They) will see modest initial savings on their gas bill under current rate structures. However, we anticipate substantial savings if the project can be scaled to convert 100 percent of our SNG demand to LNG," said Nate Nelson, vice president, general counsel and secretary for Hawaii Gas.

If the commission approves Thursday’s proposal, the utility would import two ISO containers totaling about 20,000 gallons of LNG per day.

"Two ISO containers per day is the amount that is going to get injected into our SNG plant — each containing approximately 10,000 gallons of LNG," Nelson said.

LNG takes up about one-six-hundredth the size of natural gas, making it easier to transport larger amounts over long distances. Once the LNG is regasified, it is injected into the existing pipeline infrastructure at the company’s Kapolei plant.

Hawaii Gas is also looking to convert its plant to all LNG.

"We are currently evaluating whether or not we can scale up to 100 percent," Nelson said. "If it is possible to do, we believe that 100 percent conversion to LNG could bring more savings to the customers at the end of the day but details haven’t been worked out yet. The company is currently working very diligently in order to evaluate that and make it happen."

Aside from lowering cost for consumers, LNG conversion would enhance energy security as well as reduce Hawaii’s carbon footprint, Hawaii Gas said.

"It is really a cleaner footprint than crude oil fuels," Nelson said.

The utility it is seeking to begin using LNG next year.

"We’re proposing that operations begin in the third quarter of 2015," Nelson said. "We’ve asked for approval by the first quarter of 2015."

The company said one major concern was diversifying the supply as it brings LNG to Hawaii.

Hawaii Gas signed agreements with Canadian company Fortis BC Energy Inc. and Newport Beach, Calif.-based Clean Energy Fuels Corp. in September.

In April, Hawaii Gas became the first utility to bring LNG to Hawaii, importing the fuel for a backup enhancement project.

"We got authorization to inject LNG on a backup basis if our SNG plant went down or for maintenence," Nelson said. "The LNG that is here gets injected for the backup enhancement program that was approved by the commission."

In March, the commission gave Hawaii Gas approval to bring LNG to Hawaii using three shipping containers.

Environmental organizations, including the Blue Planet Foundation and the Sierra Club, have opposed shipping liquified natural gas to Hawaii.

The groups argue that utilities should put their efforts into increasing renewable energy use rather than looking for cheaper fossil fuels.