Revised approach for discussion
All of the directors of the GPL Board and all executive managers will have pre-paid meters installed at their residences as a first measure in the company’s review of its implementation of the new programme.
The power company in a news release said a meeting of the Board of Directors yesterday noted the concerns expressed in the media over the first installation of pre-paid meters, and for the record GPL noted that it installed eight pre-paid meters as part of its pilot programme in Festival City last Sunday. The installation was met with protests from residents there.
And GPL directors yesterday reaffirmed the company’s commitment to the installation of the pre-paid meters and agreed to review the manner of implementation. The installation of pre-paid meters at the residences of the company’s top brass will be followed in a programmed way with GPL employees. These actions will be implemented within the upcoming weeks, the release stated.
During this intervening period GPL will publicly discuss and announce a revised approach to the installation of pre-paid metering across the country on a pilot basis.
Grant of credit
Meanwhile, with regard to the eight parties who have received pre-paid meters already, excepting the GPL director at whose residence a pre-paid meter was installed, the power company will grant them a credit on their pre-paid meters as an incentive for being the first consumers on the programme.
According to the release, the benefits of pre-paid metering are manifold, including allowing consumers to monitor and manage their consumption of electricity. Consumers who are on the pre-paid metering system are exempt from the GPL monthly fixed charge. The company is hoping that this revised approach will lead the way in the general acceptance of pre-paid meters.
The pre-paid metering programme had been announced and discussed at many levels such as GPL press conferences, in Parliament and before the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), prior to its first installation, the release noted.
Additionally, the release added, GPL has had many consultations with residents of the proposed pilot areas, and in newspapers, as well as circulating pamphlets on the system.
On Wednesday the PNCR had complained that the installation of the meters was unconscionable and had called for its suspension. Opposition Leader Robert Corbin had also dispatched a letter to this effect to Prime Minister Sam Hinds.
The letter to the Prime Minister was dispatched after Corbin, and a team visited the Festival City area on Wednesday to discuss the plight faced by the residents.
“On Sunday last, according to the residents, without prior notice, GPL technicians began removing their meters and installing the new pre-paid devices. Under this new system, consumers would have to purchase credit from the GPL in advance of electricity supply. This credit is then entered in a device similar to a prepaid phone. As soon as the credit is expended, electricity supply to the home is automatically disconnected. Two residents who were the victims of this arbitrary removal of their meters by GPL have already experienced the automatic disconnection of electricity supply to their homes late at night with no understanding of what could have been done to relieve them of such a plight”, the PNCR statement said.
The party said that the affected families have been put at a disadvantage of rushing down to GPL offices to obtain credit for their electricity supply to be maintained.
“The rate at which the credit for those affected homes (is) diminishing, suggest that the cost of future electricity supply is likely to double their present average payment”, the PNCR said.
It added that without any proper explanation, residents are unable to determine several issues, including, the course of action to be taken when their electrical supplies are automatically cut after normal working hours.
The party said that “It is puzzling why this pre-paid meter programme has been initiated in the centre of Festival City, Georgetown where consumers already have contracts with GPL, and not in one of the new Housing Schemes that is about to receive electricity for the first time.”
The PNCR said it believes it will be unreasonable and unjust for GPL to proceed with the meters before a full and proper explanation is provided to the residents and an agreement reached.
