Mayor demands answers as Linden grid breaks under industrial weight

Aug 17, 2026 News

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…Govt. to address town hall Wednesday as protest rumours brew

By Khadidja Ba

(Kaieteur News) – Rolling blackouts, public frustration, and a complete breakdown in municipal energy planning have pushed the town of Linden to the brink of protests, forcing the Mayor and Town Council to call an emergency town hall meeting as questions swirl over who is truly benefitting from the region’s heavily subsidised electricity.

The community issue erupted after severe load shedding was triggered by generation trips at Bosai Minerals Group Guyana (BOSAI), which occurred when local power consumption shattered the 14-megawatt (MW) ceiling set under the current Power Purchase Agreement between the Government of Guyana, Bosai, and the Linden Electricity Company Inc. (LECI).

Speaking to Kaieteur News on Sunday, Linden Mayor, Dominique Blair exposed a widening gap between the town’s energy capacity and its burgeoning demands, revealing that while original agreements provided only 8 MW, the current 14 MW supply has proven entirely inadequate for the growing municipality.

“And they have proposed a schedule because they’re claiming that it is the sawmillers… and when we started off, we had an MOU with both side that both side to give us eight megawatts. Currently both sides give us 14 megawatts. And the 14 megawatts is not enough for the community presently,” Mayor Blair said.

The mayor raised concerns over conflicting accounts regarding what, or who, is causing the current grid collapse, pointing directly to heavy industrial sawmills and an alarming lack of regulatory oversight.

Blair also questioned the government’s promises regarding a local solar farm expected to come online by December, stating that the public remains completely in the dark regarding trial periods and distribution plans.

“They said to us, there’s so many issues, they also said to us that by December the solar farm will be added to the grid. But nobody knows if the solar farm will be sufficient if there are trials, if there’ll be a trial run period… So, if this is going to be operational or it’s going to start generating power, it has to get a trial period. So, nobody knows if that is how many power will actually, if the power generates could actually, which community is going to start connecting for us before it’s supplied the entire community,” the mayor said.

Warning that residents are reaching a breaking point, Blair explained that municipal leaders felt compelled to step in and demand a full accounting from state authorities and power producers.

“Hopefully, because the community presently is agitated. There’s rumours of protests and all these things. So, we want to at least facilitate that conversation. Because there’s a flyer being circulated, that’s why we called the town hall because the community is agitated and they’re asking what their elected official is currently doing within the community,” Blair said.

To confront the situation, the mayor confirmed that the council is organising a town hall meeting and inviting key stakeholders, including representatives from the prime minister’s office.

“What we are proposing on Wednesday is to have a community town hall meeting with all the relevant stakeholders. What is we’re looking at a medium or short, medium or long term approach to this current issue with electricity, because nobody has not seen it. We have some critical questions,” Blair stated, adding, “That is the stakeholder approach we want because the prime minister is responsible when it comes to the electricity. So, in that Wednesday meeting, we want to ensure that we’re going to get a government representative.”

The outrage expressed by local officials mirrors a blistering critique issued by APNU Member of Parliament Sharma Solomon, who declared that Linden’s electricity struggles are part of a broader, national energy failure under the present administration.

Solomon said the crisis is the direct result of years of poor forward planning, delays in the flagship Gas-to-Energy project, and a massive surge in heavy industrial consumers who are exploiting Linden’s subsidised rates.

According to Solomon, electricity consumption in Linden climbed from approximately six MW in 2005 to 12 MW in 2024, and has now reached between 14 MW and 14.5 MW. Over the last decade, the number of sawmills operating in and around the town skyrocketed from five to over 35, consuming industrial levels of power while benefiting from a $12 per kWh community concession rate—a fraction of the $63 to $65 per kWh commercial rate charged across the rest of Guyana.

“A community benefit cannot become an industrial subsidy,” Solomon asserted. “If a small number of large industrial consumers can expand their operations, increase their electricity consumption and benefit from the community’s 21st of August agreement, while the wider community experiences outages and capacity constraints, then we have to ask whether the original purpose of that agreement signed in blood, sweat, and tears is being undermined.”

Solomon called on the administration to immediately provide temporary or mobile power generation units to Linden, urgently review the Power Purchase Agreement to allow Bosai to expand generation, properly reclassify and audit heavy industrial consumers, and present a clear long-term energy strategy.

As anger mounts across Mackenzie and Wismar, both the Linden Electricity Company Inc. and the Linden Utility Services Co-op Society Ltd. have begun executing strict load-shedding schedules. Residential neighbourhoods face daily four- to five-hour blackouts, major businesses are being disconnected during peak evening hours, and sawmills have been ordered off the grid outside of off-peak hours in a desperate effort to keep the town’s remaining infrastructure from collapsing entirely.

Last evening, the Linden Electricity Company Inc. (LECI) issued a public statement to address ongoing power disruptions in the community, citing a critical generation shortfall driven by environmental conditions and economic growth. In the official statement issued on 16^th August, 2026, LECI confirmed that maximum available generation capacity stands at 14.5 Megawatts (MW), while peak demand has recently surpassed 15 MW. The power company attributed the rapid increase in demand primarily to the ongoing El Niño weather phenomenon, which has brought higher temperatures to the region and driven up the use of cooling equipment, particularly air conditioning units. Prior to this weather-driven spike, LECI noted consistent demand growth linked to economic development, housing expansion, and new business enterprises across Linden.

To manage the shortfall and protect grid integrity, LECI has implemented scheduled rolling blackouts during peak periods. The company stated that government officials requested and secured an agreement with local sawmillers to limit operations to lower-demand hours between 10:00 PM and 11:00 AM daily. Additionally, LECI is engaging its generation supplier to acquire immediate supplemental capacity while long-term projects proceed. Central to these long-term upgrades is a 15 MW solar PV farm supported by the Government of Guyana, with its initial phase slated for commissioning by late 2026. LECI appealed to residents and businesses to conserve energy by setting air conditioning units to higher temperatures, turning off unused appliances, and limiting high-energy equipment during peak daylight hours.

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• blackouts, heavily subsidised electricity, industrial weight, Linden grid, public frustration

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