The electricity dilemma

Sep 15, 2009 Editorial

There are some things that are crucial to development in today’s world. One of them is a stable electricity supply. If one is to use this as a measure of Guyana’s ability to compete in the real world then one can easily conclude that Guyana is at a disadvantage.
The power situation has been a bugbear for more than two decades. At one time, the situation was such that there was only eight megawatts in the Demerara Interconnected System when the peak was about 70 megawatts. This was indeed frightening.
The power company was reduced to publishing notices informing of prolonged power outages. And the outages were indeed prolonged. People enjoyed more hours of darkness than light.
Production declined drastically because in this the electronic age everything ground to a halt. Staff used the opportunity to chat. People seeking services were always greeted with comments that reflected the extent of the power outage.
Things improved with the divestment of the power company, but only slightly. In the end the administration concluded that the new owners were more concerned with making money rather than providing a service. The power company reverted to government hands and stabilized.
Today, a lot has gone wrong. Poor maintenance of equipment; improper management of the distribution lines, massive electricity theft and dishonest electricity company workers combined to put more pressure on the system.
At the same time there was a move to expand the electricity services through what has become known as the Unserved Areas Electrification Programme. This was being done even as the ability to generate more power was not enhanced. The concept was good but the mechanisms were not in place to accommodate the expansion. More people began to steal electricity.
Some monitoring was attempted but corruption among the linesmen reduced the impact of this programme to a point of being meaningless. The result is that once more massive power outages are the norm and the complaints are myriad.
What is most mind-boggling is the failure of the administration of the power company to offer proper explanations to the people. So once more production levels are down and Guyana is still talking about catching up with the world.
One of the large consumers, Guyana National Industrial Company has almost all but scrapped its foundry. At one time it would have gained the contract for constructing the replacement spans for the Demerara Harbour Bridge. Any such task is wishful thinking. The unreliability of electricity has been blamed.
Some major enterprises have opted for standby power. They have imported large generators and they all say that their energy bill is less than if they had to pay the electricity company. This seems to suggest that electricity costs are exorbitant yet the government says that such costs are subsidized.
The major communication facilities more often than not have had to resort to standby power. Surely this will add to their production costs.
The Georgetown Public Hospital has not escaped the power outages and one can well imagine the panic during surgeries when this happens. We are unaware of any loss of life but this would not be surprising.
Indeed, there has been no increase in electricity rates but there needs to be a more concerted effort to curtail energy loss. The piecemeal efforts to limit electricity theft are not working because as soon as a raid in completed, the lights go back on in the communities.
There has been some resort to the courts and when found guilty the perpetrators have been slapped with heavy fines. There is need for more prosecutions.
It has not escaped notice that the power company sees as part of the solution, the introduction of pre-paid meters. This may serve to limit some of the problems but the initial users have all complained that they are paying more. There has been no word of the involvement of the Guyana National Bureau of Standards to aid in the standardization of these meters.
Recently, the government announced massive expansion drives that include the acquisition of new generating systems and the stringing of additional power lines. However, there have been delays in the completion of these projects. Various excuses have been offered for these delays. But whatever the excuses, it must be recognised that as long as electricity fails to be at a premium production would lag.

Latest News

The electricity dilemma

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 18th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Dolphin Secondary, East Ruimveldt seal Round-5 victories in Republic...

Golden Jaguars to host Barbados tonight in...

Members show confidence as they re-elect Ninvalle...

Badminton Team enjoy decent success in Suriname

Successful 8th Charity Event hosted by Inniss...

Nine years old is latest recipient of gear from...

Features/Columnists

A shameful abdication of leadership

Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all

Guyanese are so lucky: bad cop, bad cop

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

The electricity dilemma

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 18th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]