Guyana experienced 96 power outages in 2023 – GPL tells PUC meeting

The Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) on Thursday revealed that nationwide, 96 power outages were recorded for 2023.

This was disclosed by GPL’s management before the Public Utility Commission (PUC) at a meeting to review the power company’s operating standards and performance targets last year.

For the year 2022 the target was set at 90 outages, but the utility company, according to the PUC, in its order for 2023 indicated that the average number of outages experienced by consumers that year was 94.

Last year’s figure shows an increase in power outages, which were due to several reasons ranging from planned maintenance to emergencies.

The protracted dry season contributed significantly to the demand for energy in November and December 2023 and hence, demand outstripped supply in several instances, according to Divisional Director for Loss Reduction Parsram Persaud.

He said that GPL’s generation capacity increased by 14.5 per cent in 2023. However, the peak demand for power increased by 21.4 per cent. Persaud added that the agency’s Smart Grid pilot project at Good Hope, East Coast Demerara (ECD) was indicating results that may see an increase in power for households and commercial entities.

The Good Hope F2 feeder is one of the heavily loaded and long circuits across GPL’s network at the Good Hope Substation.

According to Persaud, GPL was monitoring the feeder and based on its performance, the project would be decentralized in other communities.

“We intend to look at the others that are coming in from their substation – the length and through certain areas that are very far from the substation. Alongside that, too, we are looking at the data that is coming in … where people are complaining about low voltage situations,” he told the PUC.

Persaud added, “It’s the first stage in smart metering and we’re building the infrastructure piece by piece… over the next five years, we expect to update those meters to two hundred and something thousand as the customer base grows.”

This project is currently in phase one, and phase two will start in 2026.

The goal of this pilot project is to show how the Itron bridge meters can be used for voltage monitoring and drive corrective work required to guarantee that the voltage being provided to customers is within the voltage regulation standard.

“We will continue to report on the particular circuit that we use as a pilot and other circuits that are coming out of other substations. We will also share with the PUC the [range] of these feeders in terms of load and terms customers,” he said.

However, coming back to the PUC’s order for last year, the commission noted that while the targets continue to be set below industry standards, GPL was still failing to meet them. Further, technical and nontechnical losses mounted up to roughly 25% of generated power which had been the target set in that category.

“GPL continually fails to attain the majority of its operating standards and performance targets as prescribed within the company’s approved development and expansion programme even though many of these targets are way below the industry norms. However, notwithstanding its statutory failings, the company continues to implement and explore innovative measures to bolster its commitment to its consumers,” the PUC said.

The PUC also expressed “grave concern” that the company insists on using the failure of handheld devices as a shield in the achievement of meter readings for maximum demand consumers.

The prospect of improvements as the company continues to procure and deploy new handheld devices is noted and the commission is hopeful that this target can be met in the current year, it added.