Dear Editor,
Electricity plays an important role in the modern world. The electricity business can be broken down into two parts: generation of electricity and distribution of electricity. Generation comes from diesel generators, wind farms, solar farms, hydro, etc. While distribution is the national grid (the wiring, transformers, etc).
Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) is the State-owned company responsible for providing electricity to Guyanese. It has a near-monopoly in doing this. Because of this monopoly, GPL does not fulfil its obligation with merits with numerous blackouts every year. Why is this? It is because of GPL being a State-run enterprise with a monopoly that it has a don’t-care attitude.
Is it really a don’t-care attitude or is it a lack of knowledge and poor planning?
In a country prone to blackouts there is no logic in having the distribution system interconnected. This is because when there is a blackout in one part of the national grid it will affect the other parts. Hence, the national grid needs to be segregated.
Also, GPL’s monopoly needs to be broken. This can be done by simply creating two State-owned electricity companies – one responsible for the generation of electricity and the other responsible for maintaining the national grid. Then companies (like Giftland Mall) can supply electricity to the national grid as opposed to waiting over 4 years for a Power Purchasing Agreement from GPL.
Yours faithfully,
Sean Ori
