Another excavator hit GPL’s transmission line triggers power outages

…moves to recover repair costs

The Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) will be moving to recoup costs for repair works done a key transmission infrastructure that was damaged by an excavator on Monday and resulted in disruptions in electricity supply in the Demerara County. According to GPL, the incident occurred at approximately 10:11h when an excavator, being operated by Raju Singh of Avinash Contracting and Scrap Metal Inc, came into contact with the power company’s L4 Transmission Line, which interconnects the Golden Grove and Sophia Substations.

The incident resulted in damages to the critical transmission infrastructure and caused a service interruption that affected a number of customers across sections of Demerara. GPL’s technical teams responded and immediately commenced efforts to assess the damage and restore electricity supply to affected customers as quickly and safely as possible. “GPL has since commenced an investigation into the incident and wishes to make it clear that the company will be pursuing legal action against both the contractor and the operator to recover the costs associated with the damages caused to its infrastructure,” the power company stated. It further used the opportunity to reminds contractors, heavy-duty equipment operators and members of the public that any excavation, construction or operations near the company’s transmission and distribution infrastructure must be coordinated with GPL to ensure safety and prevent damage to critical national assets. GPL went onto warn that unauthorised or unsafe activities near its network can result in widespread service disruptions as well as pose serious public safety risks. Monday’s incident comes two days after GPL’s distribution network lines and a utility pole were damaged by a truck “recklessly” reversing out of a yard at Third Avenue in Diamond, East Bank Demerara (EBD). It was reported that the impact resulted in destruction to the pole and the dislodgement of associated hardware, causing electrical arcing and also damages to a nearby customer’s vehicle. GPL has been working with the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to locate the truck driver, who drove away from the scene.
Efforts by this newspaper on Monday to ascertain whether the driver was found, were futile. Only earlier this month, GPL sought to recover some $8 million from a contractor following a transmission line damage during works at Grove New Housing Scheme (Backlands) on the East Bank. In a May 19 statement, the power company disclosed that a heavy-duty machinery operated by S. Joseph Transportation & Machinery Rental came into direct contact with the L1 Transmission Line, linking the Garden of Eden and Grove Substations, resulting in a significant disruption of electricity supply to tens of thousands of customers across multiple communities the previous day. GPL has since issued a strongly worded letter to the construction company and is seeking to recover a total of $8,059,361 for operational losses incurred as a result of the incident. S. Joseph Transportation & Machinery Rental was given 14 days to settle the full amount, failing which GPL will pursue legal action. This followed a similar incident back in April, when an engineer for a road construction project at Dennis Street, Sophia in Georgetown, was arrested by police after a heavy-duty machinery damaged a key transmission line and caused a near-10 power outage across the Demerara County.
Days later, GPL informed the construction company – China Railway First Group (Guyana) Incorporated, that it would have 14 days settle some $30.6 million in repair costs for the damages caused. These actions come as GPL intensifies efforts to hold persons accountable for damaging its infrastructure. In recent years, there have been mounting concerns about the repeated damage to utility infrastructure especially by road construction works as well as by vehicular accidents.
During a hearing before the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) back in March, PUC Chairman Dr Nanda Gopaul had called for those persons responsible to be held financially accountable for the damages they caused. In response, GPL’s Team Leader, Kesh Nandlall, had explained that the power company has been working with the Police Force to ensure those offenders face legal action. “There was a lot of charges being meted out to these contractors… we have a team of guys that are working very closely with the police. So, when we have these incidents, we act immediately,” Nandlall had told the Commission earlier this year.