President Dr. Irfaan Ali has assured that the 50% reduction in electricity tariffs is slated to take effect sometime in 2025, when the Gas-to-Energy (GTE) project comes onstream.
The PPP/C government has long touted that the GTE project which will be located at Wales, West Bank Demerara will slash citizens’ electric bills by half. The government recently received approval for a US$526 million loan by the United States Export-Import (EXIM) Bank for the project.
During his end-of-year press conference on December 31, 2024 the president outlined the benefits of this reduction.
“Of course, a very important consideration in 2025 is the customer savings as a result of the proposed reduction of the 50% tariff,” President Ali stated.
He added that through his administration’s commitment and based on current consumption, “At some point in 2025, the 50% reduction in tariff will be taken care of. What this means and what we have to plan for is that based on current consumption, the consumer savings will be approximately $2.2 billion per month.”
President Ali noted that based on their projection with a reduction in price more customers are expected to come on the grid. As a result of new customers President Ali stated that it will result in a $3.3 billion monthly savings for citizens.
“The gross customer consumption is projected to increase by approximately 44% per month. That is a projection of increase in terms of consumption,” he said.
Moreover, President Ali highlighted some achievements of the energy sector. In 2024, about 1,000 new households in 17 previously unserved areas became first-time beneficiaries of electricity.
“So this story was not all bad. Yes, there are a lot of bright spots. And yes, there are challenges that I have dealt with. Management will come to know. The country, the world will come to know. As I said, action will be taken. But we have to understand what we inherited and what we are doing moving forward,” President Ali said.
