Latest update November 29th, 2024 1:00 AM
Mahdia power woes…$43M generator set to provide improved power supply
Residents of Mahdia and surrounding communities in Region Eight should have longer power supply as a recently procured $43.7M generator is set to fully begin its operation this week.
Region Eight Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ronald Harsaywack
According to Regional Executive Officer (REO) Ronald Harsaywack, residents have been affected by severe rationing of electricity in Mahdia, with a reduced power supply from 24 to 12 hours.
“The engineers out of the Office of the Prime Minister are doing the final installation and the generator should be up and running this afternoon (yesterday),” Harsaywack noted. “Residents should receive approximately 18 hours of power a day and based on the calculations its can probably go up to 24 hours.”
Underscoring that this was due to Mahdia Power and Light Company’s shortfall as a result of limited resources, the REO explained that the operational cost of the power company has for long far exceeded the revenue accrued. The company does not have enough customers on the power grid to get enough revenue to generate 24 hours of electricity.
However, Harsaywack noted that there are just about 500 customers on the grid, of which about 85 do not pay for their power generation, since the first 15 kilowatts of electricity is free.
He said the power company has a 750kva generating set, but only utilises roughly 250 kva. In essence, the set is too large for the small customer base and the main reason why Government would have invested in a smaller generating set to meet the needs of residents. This would allow for the consumption of less fuel and by extension, less overhead costs for the Mahdia Power and Light, while at the same time, providing more hours of electricity generation to the residents.
The REO met with residents of Princeville over the weekend, in the company of the Local Government and Regional Development Minister Norman Whittaker, where they heard the concerns of residents as part of Government’s focus on reaching out to residents on issues of community and national development.
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