Blackouts are Guyana’s unwanted national institution

Sep 21, 2024 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – It’s an ordinary day in Georgetown, Guyana. The heat wave is oppressive. People go about their day, working, shopping, socializing, and skylarking. Suddenly, the hum of daily life is abruptly interrupted—lights flicker, and then darkness envelops offices. The fans stop spinning, computers crash, refrigerators hum their last breath, and businesses come to a halt.

Once again, there was a blackout. In Guyana, these blackouts have become so frequent, that they feel like an unwelcome but permanent feature of national life.

For almost four decades, Guyanese have been forced to endure the problems of a dysfunctional electricity grid. The problems with power supply have transcended generations, administrations, and political ideologies. From the streets of Georgetown to the interior regions, unreliable electricity has remained a frustrating constant in the lives of citizens. And while the excuses have changed with each successive government, the underlying issue remains—power outages in Guyana are no longer just a technical failure; they are a national institution.

The roots of Guyana’s electricity woes date back to the 1980s, a period of economic stagnation and infrastructural neglect. At the time, the country’s power grid was already showing signs of wear, and by the mid-1980s blackouts became a regular occurrence. Successive governments made promises to address the issue, but improvements have been incremental at best, leaving much of the nation in the dark—both literally and figuratively.

What is perhaps most shocking is that in the almost 40 years since these problems first surfaced, the situation remains largely unchanged. Despite billions being funneled into energy projects, grid upgrades, and new generating sets, Guyana’s electrical infrastructure is as fragile as ever. It’s not just the occasional blackout that plagues the country; it’s the total unpredictability of when and for how long power outages will last.

Aging infrastructure, poor maintenance, and increased demand have only worsened the situation. From transformers blowing to inadequate generation capacity, the challenges are immense and seemingly never-ending. Each administration, be it the People’s National Congress (PNC) or the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), has grappled with the electricity problem, yet none have managed to fix it.

During the 2015–2020 period, under the APNU+AFC coalition government, there seemed to be a slight reprieve from the endless blackouts. The government focused on improving grid reliability and ensuring that electricity generation was more stable. Power outages, while still a reality, were not as frequent or as long-lasting as in previous years. This relative stability was notable, considering that the coalition inherited an already fragile grid.

However, the current PPP/C administration has been quick to place the blame squarely on the previous government for not doing enough to modernize the system or invest in new generation capacity.

Allegations abound that the APNU+AFC failed to inject the necessary funds into maintaining and upgrading the grid. While there may be some truth to these claims, they do not tell the whole story.

The APNU+AFC government managed to provide relatively stable electricity during its tenure. They did manage to stave off the worst effects of an aging system. Since 2020, however, the situation has deteriorated once more, and blackouts have once again become the norm. They had grand plans to move towards greener energy.

Since taking office, the PPP/C government has been busy planning ambitious energy projects, most notably the much-touted gas-to-energy plant, which is expected to bring an additional 300 megawatts of electricity to the grid by 2025. The project is part of a larger strategy to meet the country’s growing energy demand, which has surged in recent years due to rapid economic growth, largely fueled by Guyana’s burgeoning oil industry.

On paper, the gas-to-energy project looks like a panacea for Guyana’s electricity woes. It promises cleaner energy, increased generation capacity, and a more reliable grid. But for many Guyanese, this grand plan seems like a distant dream. After all, they have heard similar promises before—each new administration brings new energy projects and lofty ambitions, but the results have remained the same: sporadic electricity supply, equipment failures, and insufficient generation capacity.

In the meantime, as the government focuses on these large-scale projects, little attention has been given to the immediate issue—keeping the lights on today. Citizens and businesses continue to suffer from frequent outages, while the larger plans remain years away from fruition.

The privatization of the power utility company in 1999 – through a 50/50 equity partnership –  was supposed to inject much-needed capital and efficiency into the system. Instead, the situation worsened. The privatization experiment failed to deliver the promised improvements, and the utility was eventually re-nationalized. Since then, the management of the grid has been a perennial issue, with successive governments struggling to maintain oversight and ensure accountability.

The PPP/C government has now expressed concerns over the management of the state-owned utility, hinting at potential restructuring. However, these concerns are not new, and simply changing management will not address the underlying problems of a poorly maintained and outdated grid. What Guyana needs is a comprehensive, long-term plan that not only looks at increasing generation capacity but also addresses the systemic issues that have plagued the grid for decades.

Electricity generation and distribution have been the Achilles heel of successive governments, both PNC and PPP/C alike. Despite their differences, neither party has been able to solve the electricity crisis that has plagued the country for almost four decades. The grid remains fragile, the generation capacity inadequate, and the management inefficient.

The future does not look particularly promising. While there is hope that the gas-to-energy project will bring relief, it is not a guaranteed solution, and it is not even certain if this project will materialize any time soon. In the meantime, plans for a major hydroelectric power plant, which could provide a fast track to renewable energy and help Guyana achieve its Net Zero goals, have been sidetracked and accorded low attention.

Is it truly wise for Guyana to rush ahead with plans to construct nine internationally-branded hotels when the country’s electricity generation remains insufficient to meet current demand, let alone the surge that these new developments will create? With persistent blackouts and a fragile grid, the addition of massive energy consumers raises serious concerns about the sustainability of such expansion. Without a reliable and increased power supply, these hotels may struggle to operate efficiently, and the very image of Guyana as an emerging destination could be tarnished by the inability to provide something as fundamental as steady electricity. Shouldn’t the focus first be on securing energy stability before racing to add more strain to an already overburdened system?

Without significant investment in both new generation and grid modernization, Guyana’s electricity crisis will continue to be a national institution—a constant reminder of how infrastructure failures can hold back even the most promising of nations. For now, Guyanese must continue to endure the darkness, both in their homes and in their hopes for a brighter future.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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