Even though the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) is a state-owned agency, Vice President, Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo is urging Guyanese to lodge their complaints about frequent blackouts with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC).
The official made this statement, among others, during a recent radio interview where he was informed that many citizens are unhappy with the increase in power outages and the equipment damage it may lead to in some cases.
The former Head of State was quick to note that Guyanese should file complaints with the PUC while adding that they should do the same for cases of poor internet service.
Jagdeo said, “…the PUC should take care of that, consumers’ concerns. That’s the regulatory body for these agencies. So, although it’s government owned, they still have to comply with regulations and standards. Now, the blackout situation, the transmission lines are in a sad state. Then we have issues with generation.”
The Vice President added, “We had to buy 10 megawatts of emergency power for the Christmas season, etc. because we realised that between 2015 to 2020, APNU never put in a major baseload power plant, in spite of the growing demand. So they were just running on the old units we left.”
By June, Jagdeo said the PPP/C Government will install about 46 megawatts of power. He said that this will be supported by a plant the former regime bought but did not utilize.
The Vice President said, “So we are doing that now. But until we address the grid, we are getting more problems with these connections etc. It is overloading the system. So we have to fix this. Electricity is crucial. Cheaper power, reliable power, where people have no blackout is crucial.”
It is with this understanding in mind that the Vice President reminded of his government’s plans to bring the gas-to-shore project on board with would feed off of the Stabroek Block resources. Jagdeo reminded that the project which would cost almost US$1B could result in electricity costs being slashed by 50 percent or more. Jagdeo said that the initiative would pave the way for Guyana to truly unlock its development potential.
