…prolonged power outage forces press conference outdoors
A prolonged period of ‘blackout’ yesterday forced Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo to host his weekly press conference outdoors of his Church Street, Georgetown office.
Opposition Leader Bharrat Jagdeo was forced to hold his weekly press briefing in the outdoors due to power outage
Blasting the Government for the frequent episodes of power outage across Guyana, Jagdeo noted that many Guyanese are forced to endure the constant power outages daily, despite the Government saving more money from fuel than ever before.
According to the Opposition Leader, there is a manifest lack of short- and long-term solutions to address the Guyana Power and Light’s (GPL) inefficiency.
“So many Guyanese face this on a daily basis — the large number of blackouts, sometimes for extended periods — and (they are failing) to address this. (There is) no relief from the Government in the short-term, and no (effective) plan for addressing this in the medium to long term. So it can only get worse,” Jagdeo predicted.
He noted that the Government has been profiting from billions, since it has not adjusted the electricity rates downwards, considering the low oil price.
“And you know what bothers me the most? Because this Government did not adjust the electricity prices downwards, (it) has been raking in large sums of money compared to the past. And so many times I have argued they have raked in in excess of $20 billion, and I saw the Chairman of the (GPL) Board, (Robert) Badal, dispute the figures. But they never said how much money they’ve collected since fuel prices fell, without adjusting the rates.”
According to Jagdeo, the coalition Government killed the Amaila Falls Hydro Power (AFHP) project while promising wind power. Expressing fears of a rapid deterioration in power supply, which will harm both individuals and businesses, Jagdeo questioned both the transparency and the effectiveness of the strategies the Government has so far pursued.
“We heard that they were negotiating a power purchase agreement. We didn’t hear much after we exposed that it would have been a corrupt act with another AFC financier. Then we heard about a gas-powered power plant. We’re not hearing much more about that,” Jagdeo related.
“The latest iteration of this confusion and excuse is the President saying we will become a solar state, whatever that means, because solar cannot be base- load electricity. And then we’ve seen big ads from (Power Producers and Distributors Incorporated) about how much money they’re saving. That’s all we’re getting. In 2018, we’re faced with this sort of situation and (there is) no (effective) plan to address it.”
The ‘revamp’
In a bid to revamp its operations, GPL recently appointed Albert Gordon, a Jamaican, as its new Chief Executive Officer (CEO). The appointment of this former Vice President of the Jamaican Water Commission took effect on February 1.
Gordon has replaced the former GPL acting CEO, Renford Homer. His appointment came at a time when GPL is touting the use of renewable energy, such as wind, to power its national grid.
However, Jagdeo has continuously maintained that even with a change of management, power outages remain a reality for thousands across Guyana. He noted that without effective action, the energy situation would only get worse.
“It’s going to get worse because they’re not taking steps to address it. There is no new power. Amaila should have been in the system from 2017, (providing) 100 megawatts. There is no new installed capacity in the horizon now,” he had said in the past.
“They’re still running with what the PPP had (while) in office, and we had planned to bring in an additional 160 megawatts of power. So those units, some of them are already old and they need to be replaced or put in reserve. But if there’s no plan, it’s going to get worse,” Jagdeo predicted.
The GPL has recently attributed the service interruptions experienced in the Demerara-Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) to a short circuit within a 13.8 kV breaker at Sophia.
According to GPL, service restoration efforts began immediately and all the areas were subsequently re-powered, with the exception of Kitty, Subryanville, Alberttown, Newtown, Queenstown and Bel Air. These areas were repowered following the completion of remedial work to resolve a localized fault on Vlissengen Road.
Additionally, customers from No. 54 Village to Skeldon in East Berbice who experienced similar outages as a result of burst conductors on the L23 transmission line, were re-powered, said GPL.
