The Fairy-Lights Economy – How PPP/C’s energy failures are strangling Guyana’s growth

Aug 24, 2025 Letters

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Dear Editor,

Guyana’s electricity crisis is no longer just about flickering lights in households and businesses; it has become a chokehold on the economy. The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) government, now nearing the end of its term, has repeatedly promised that reforms at Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL) would deliver reliable, affordable electricity. Instead, the daily reality is economic loss, frustrated investors, and declining productivity, all stemming from blackouts and empty assurances.

Empty Assurances and Costly Blackouts

 In December 2024, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo declared that with over 267 megawatts of available capacity versus a 200 MW peak demand, “…the era of outages due to power shortages” was over. Yet blackouts have continued unabated. Each outage disrupts factories, slows down operations across business sectors, and inflates costs for farmers, retailers, and exporters; and pervasive irritants to everyday life. The excuses range from hints of sabotage to wildlife interference, but the economic impact is consistent; downtime, lost revenue, and higher costs of doing business. How can a country claiming surplus electricity still be held hostage by power outages in 2025? The answer is clear, poor governance, political interference, and managerial failure; and the recently released PPPC manifesto has none very little to address these concerns.

Gas-to-Energy Project – A Stalled Economic Lifeline

 The 300-megawatt Gas-to-Energy project at Wales was pitched as a transformative pillar of Guyana’s future, expected to slash energy costs in half and power new industries. Today, this project is years behind schedule with no revised milestones, cost updates, or transparent timelines. Billions are being spent, yet businesses and citizens are forced to operate in uncertainty. This opacity erodes investor confidence, recalling past PPP/C blunders such as the Skeldon Sugar Factory – another “transformational” project that collapsed into a white elephant and brought the sugar industry to its knees. It’s also important to note the Skeldon project included a bagasse cogeneration facility to produce 10MW of electricity for Berbice to assure residents of stable electricity. In reality, that facility produced less than a quarter of its touted electricity capacity. Hence, energy is the backbone of economic growth. Without affordable, reliable power, Guyana cannot diversify into manufacturing, agro-processing, or advanced services. The government’s failure to manage the gas-to-energy project responsibly is not just an energy issue, it is a direct threat to national competitiveness. At this rate, GPL appears to be heading on a similar path as the sugar industry under the PPPC.

Ignoring the Private Sector and Stifling Growth

 Instead of harnessing the capacity of commercial self-generators in manufacturing, retail, and agriculture, the government has sidelined them. Hotels, farms and factories remain dependent on costly private generators, undermining efficiency and raising consumer prices. The administration has failed to integrate private energy producers into the grid, or to implement progressive policies like net metering, which would allow households with solar panels to sell excess power back to GPL. Such policies would not only strengthen energy security but also advance Guyana’s Low Carbon Development Strategy. By clinging to mega-projects and rental power contracts, the PPP/C government is missing the opportunity to build a diversified, resilient energy system that underpins sustainable growth.

A failing government and a weakening economy

 After more than four years in office, the PPP/C can no longer credibly blame its predecessors for GPL’s failures. This is Jagdeo’s GPL. This is Ali’s GPL. And the results are economic stagnation, frustrated investors, and citizens burdened with rising costs. The fairy-lights flickering across Guyana are symbols of a government that cannot deliver the fundamentals of development. Blackouts are not just an inconvenience; they are an economic tax on every household and business. They erode productivity, discourage foreign investment, and keep Guyana locked in a cycle of dependency. Investors will not build factories in a country where power supply is uncertain. Fisheries cannot modernize if cold storage is unreliable. Tourism cannot thrive when hotels must run costly backup systems. Now, the Guyana Elections Commission (GECOM) is left wondering or perhaps praying for uninterrupted power during the upcoming election day.

Conclusion

 The PPP/C has failed to deliver reliable energy, and the Guyanese economy is paying the price. Without bold reforms, rooted in transparency, accountability, and a partnership with the private sector, Guyana will remain trapped in a fairy-lights economy – flickering, fragile, and fundamentally unsustainable. The time for excuses has long passed. September 1, 2025, must mark not just an election, but an eviction of failed leadership. Guyana needs a government that understands that electricity is not a luxury, it is the foundation of economic growth and a fundamental right for all constituencies, and without it, all other promises will collapse into darkness.

Colin Welch

Former Chief Executive Officer

Guyana Power and Light

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• blackout, economy, Fairy-Lights, GPL, People’s Progressive Party Civic

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