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GPL spends additional US$8M on fuel for first half of 2011

Aug 09, 2011 News

–          Electricity theft estimated at $2 billion annually

By Rabindra Rooplall

For the first six months of 2011 escalating fuel prices has caused the state-owned Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) to spend an additional US$8 million in fuel, according to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Bharrat Dindyal.
He said in order for consumers not to face an inevitable tariff increase the power company has to defer capital investments. “We have adopted measures to ensure that we could handle the increase in fuel prices without a tariff increase.”
The CEO pointed out that for several weeks; heavy fuel oil hovered at US$110 per barrel while diesel went as high as US$130 per barrel.
Earlier this year, also, GPL would have budgeted US$83 for a barrel of heavy fuel oil (HFO) but prices kept fluctuating. For the power company, every US$1 spent extra on oil translates to over US$1M annually.
GPL is depending on the long term answer; both Dindyal and Luncheon said this will be the Amaila Falls Hydro Electric Project.
GPL officials also said that the theft of electricity has caused commercial losses estimated at $2 billion annually, while approximately 30 per cent of the population is illegally connected. However, the company stressed it was taking a number of steps to curb the theft of electricity, one of which is the use of a special type of meter – the Itron meter – that is being used for large consumers in a secure environment. In addition, for small customers, the company is offering the prepaid meter, which discourages consumers from accessing it with the intention of tampering.
There have been many amendments to the Electricity Sector Reform Act, and there are now more stringent measures that the court can employ to deal with persons found stealing electricity, such as stiffer terms of imprisonment.
Last year, GPL saw demand spiking by 6.8 per cent because of a growth in economic activity and more household appliances coming into use.
While GPL would have catered for 500 new applications each month in 2011, the reality is that this has doubled to 1,000.
Guyana’s main supplier of electricity generation is highly dependent on petroleum, and approximately 98% of GPL electricity generated is from petroleum, with 2% generated from biomass.
Imported oil is sourced mainly from Venezuela and Trinidad and Tobago. There are abundant sources of renewable energy that exist in the country (hydro, solar, wind and biomass), but there has been little investment and development of these alternatives.

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