Officials from Hawaiian Electric Co. said Friday they are "seriously examining" the possibility of burning liquified natural gas instead of high-priced fuel oil in the company’s power plants in an effort to cut electricity costs.

HECO made the statement in response to a letter Gov. Neil Abercrombie sent to utility officials Thursday urging them to find a way to take advantage of cheap natural gas, which has fallen in price by about 70 percent over the past four years.

Abercrombie stressed that a potential switch to natural gas should not detract from the state’s commitment to increasing the use of renewable energy sources, such as wind, solar, geothermal and biofuel.

"Still a prudent question is whether the portion of power generation that would continue to use imported petroleum oil during the transition to renewable energy could instead be converted to a potentially cheaper and cleaner fuel such as liquified natural gas that could reduce energy costs for consumers in Hawaii," Abercrombie wrote in the letter.

HECO Executive Vice President Robbie Alm on Friday said natural gas could provide a solution with "oil prices for electricity at near rec­ord levels."

"At the request of the governor, the chair of the Public Utilities Commission, and in the interest of lowering the cost of electricity for our customers, we are very seriously examining the possibility of using LNG to replace petroleum oil in our units," Alm told the Star-Advertiser in an email.