The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) will from today embark on a massive disconnection drive to further cut commercial losses and it acknowledged that it was walking a “thin line” on generation but that 10 MWs of relief power should be available on November 19.
Chairman of the company Ronald Alli made this announcement during a press conference held yesterday at the studios of the National Communications Network (NCN).
The Chairman said that the company will also be targeting large and small business customers who continue to record zero consumption, other low consumption cases, meters that appear on premises for which the company has no records and persons with illegal connections.
CEO of GPL Bharat Dindyal said that the company cannot improve its services while the losses remain high. The company, though in a financial crunch, is still able to meet its financial obligations.
Dindyal said that the company is looking towards achieving some of the new benchmarks in loss reduction. He said that from the findings of the loss reduction consultant a few months ago, the company is looking at reducing its losses – both technical and commercial – to 12.8% by 2011. He said that the company had to reset its loss reduction benchmarks in line with the findings of the consultant.
The company is upbeat about its capacity for generation and Alli said that the 10-megawatt diesel generators will be available for commercial operations on November 19, well before the start of the Christmas peak period. The company has arrangements in place for the provision of an additional 25 to 30 megawatts of power in the short term.
He said that once successfully implemented the 10 megawatts of power that Skeldon will provide the Berbice grid will significantly improve the lives and livelihood of Berbicians and will have an impact on Demerara as well. He said that some of the mobile Caterpillar generating sets that are stationed in Berbice will be relocated to the city to add to generation capacity.
Alli said that the Board and management will continue to work towards finding more stable interim solutions to power, until hydropower is introduced in the year 2011.
He said that over the last 18 months, the company has faced significant fuel price increases. Alli said too that the prices being faced now are the highest that the company has seen in its history. “Prices have fluctuated in the past, but at present we have seen sustained high price levels that continue to challenge the company, and continue to interfere with daily operations,” Alli said.
He said that GPL has absorbed these additional costs. “In 2006, we paid approximately $2.5 billion over the budgeted figure. This year the trend continues and we (have) already surpassed the higher figures that were budgeted for fuel this year,” he said.
According to Alli, the company has been able to survive by cost reduction activities through the efficient management of operations, greater emphasis on collection of customer arrears and the acceleration of loss reduction activities.
He said that one example of making operations more cost effective is the conversion of diesel generating sets to heavy fuel oil, which leads to savings of US$30 per barrel.
Alli said too that while the disconnection campaign has been successful in some areas, a number of areas have shown an increase in arrears in the past months.
A major part of the loss reduction strategy is the replacement of meters for the company’s maximum demand customers. The new ITRON meters are said to be virtually tamper proof, impregnable and more secure. “We have seen significant increases in the consumption among this group of customers
