-urges customers to reduce power demand
The power company yesterday said it was facing a situation with record high fuel costs that was approaching crisis proportions and appealed to all customers to join the conservation effort to reduce electricity demand.
“We have seen a reduction in electricity demand this year and would wish to thank those customers who responded to our call to conserve. The situation is approaching crisis proportions and we are pleading with all our customers to join the conservation effort, the Guyana Power & Light Inc (GPL) said in a press release.
“Everything that you do to reduce your electricity demand would help and we are asking you to do something,” GPL urged.
The company said further that “Energy conservation must be made an absolute priority in each home and office. Fuel is now extremely expensive and in order for GPL to continue to provide a stable supply of electricity, consumers will have to assist the company in this period of record high prices.”
GPL pointed out that when a consumer leaves on lights and appliances that are not in use, that person would be contributing to the wasting of fuel which is already expensive to acquire.
At present, the release stated, GPL has approximately 120,000 domestic consumers and if each household is to switch off one 10-watt bulb that just might not be in use during the peak period, the company would not need to generate about 1.4 megawatts of power.
Explaining the dilemma the company is facing, the release noted that the price of fuel on the international market is continuing to rise at an alarming rate.
“At the beginning of the year crude surpassed the psychological barrier of US$100 per barrel. By the end of the first quarter the price for crude oil was in the vicinity of US$117 per barrel,” GPL stated.
It said further that on May 9, 2008 the oil price exceeded US$125 per barrel for the first time, and by Wednesday this week the oil price exceeded US$130 per barrel, touching the US$135 mark and raising eyebrows across the globe.
GPL said it uses approximately 3,000 barrels of heavy fuel oil and diesel to generate electricity daily, while it has to buy its fuel on the international market at the price determined by that market.
And with the price of fuel steadily increasing almost daily, it means that the company has to expend an ever increasing amount of its scarce financial resources on fuel, the power company said.
GPL said at present it had budgeted US$85M for fuel alone in 2008, but no one could have foreseen fuel prices soaring past US$130 per barrel.
The company said it is under severe pressure to maintain tariffs with the daily increase in fuel prices, but it is exploring every avenue to reduce costs, improve efficiency and manage the situation.
However, the price levels fuel has reached demand that customers do more to help the company survive this crisis, GPL added.
