Govt. raises electricity bills for large customers

Oct 11, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc. has announced steeper electricity tariffs for large/ industrial customers during the peak hours.

This comes as the country grapples to supply the national grid with enough power to support the growing demand, triggering daily blackouts for prolonged periods over the past weeks.

According to a Public Notice published on its Facebook page, the power company received the green light from the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to increase the charges with effect from October 1, 2023 until January 31, 2024.

It is important to note that President Irfaan Ali had previously indicated that another almost 30 megawatts of additional power would be available by mid-December to cater to the peak demand and avoid outages. This measure however will not avoid the increased charges to commercial users of power between peak hours.

According to the power company: “The PUC has approved the implementation of a Time of Use (TOU) Tariff for GPL’s industrial/ large (Tariff D) customers in accordance with the provisions of the Electricity Sector Reform Act 1999 (ESRA), amended 2010.”

Consequently, it explained that the Time of Use Tariff will be applied to recorded electricity consumption for large customers between the peak hours of 13:00hrs or 1:00pm to 15:00hrs or 3:00pm and 18:00hrs or 6:oo pm to 22:00hrs or 10:00pm.

The power company was keen to note that the current rate will remain unchanged and applicable during off-peak hours.

The current rate per kilowatt hour (kWh) during off-peak hours is $57.39. The new tariff will see large customers paying $78.91 during the peak hours stated above. This is an increase of $21.52.

Former Minister of Public Infrastructure, David Patterson had blamed the government’s mismanagement for the constant blackouts being experienced. He said the administration’s failure to put measures in place to match the country’s growth trajectory is responsible for the spate of power outages plaguing the nation.

“The government has been opening malls, parks, hospitals and hotels to much fanfare since coming back into the office, claiming the same was the result of their policies. A primary school student would have known that if on one hand, you willingly add additional commercial entities to the grid, then you would need additional generating capacity,” the Member of Parliament (MP) reasoned.

He told this publication that government has failed to upgrade the power supply to accommodate the growing demand. Consequently, it has proven its inability to manage the power sector.

At that time, he told this publication, “You are now threatening these companies with increased taxes for using the services that you signed them up for and even encouraged. This is the clearest sign that the PPP remain clueless, run the country like a cake shop and, when exposed, seek to blame others,” Patterson argued.

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blackouts, Electricity, GPL, increase, power, tariffs

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