Several consumers who use the Guyana Power and Light’s (GPL) pre-paid metering service have expressed satisfaction with the service provided, though some feel it can be improved.
GPL unveiled the pre-paid meter service in mid-2009 and several areas around the country were selected as part of a pilot project. The ultimate aim of the service, GPL had said was to improve the consumption of electricity by consumers. Stabroek News made several unsuccessful attempts over the past three weeks to obtain a comment from the power company on how well the pre-paid meter programme has worked so far.
However, a few consumers who utilize the service told this newspaper recently that since they began to use the pre-paid meter, there has been a reduction in their spending on electricity.
Alfred Bhulai, who has been using the pre-paid meter at his Lamaha Gardens home for more than 15 months, told Stabroek News recently that he had made several calculations when the service was first installed at his home. He concluded recently that two things have happened: “GPL has finally got their act together,” and that the power company, was able to satisfy him by measuring the units properly.
He said he visited the company’s office at Main Street in the city to seek the service and while there were a few teething problems on installation, he was able to have the service hooked up. Bhulai, who is a qualified energy technologist, stated that he made enquiries with the power company on the use of the calibrated lab, a device which gives an independent energy reading.
He said the readings have proven to correspond with his own observations, and he noted that he uses about 7 to 8 units of electricity per day. He said that at times, the keypad, one of two components of the meter which is posted on the wall inside his home, would give readings to the effect that there was a limited amount of units remaining for him to utilize and he would immediately “top up” his credit.
He said that at the moment he spends approximately $12,000 per month on electricity, a figure which is similar or less than what he spent while using the post-paid meter.
He said one plus about the pre-paid service is that it erases the fixed charge which existed on the light bill, and the removal of the light bill itself was also a welcome change to his electricity service.
Bhulai said his home is equipped with appliances “like any other household”, and according to him, his refrigerator utilizes more electricity than any other appliance in his home.
Another consumer from the Roxanne Burnham Gardens in South Georgetown who chose to remain anonymous told Stabroek News last week that her monthly light bill has seen a drastic drop from approximately $11,000 to $5,000 per month.
She said she has been using the service since June last year and, “I find it excellent and as I mentioned my bill use to be enormous but now it far less.” Like Bhulai, the public servant stated that she visited GPL last year and applied for the service and for 3 days she had no electricity, which she said, had “no big effect“ on her household.
She said GPL installed the components in her home shortly after and thereafter, “I continued to use it like with my normal meter’. She said her family members are usually disciplined where electricity usage is concerned, but added “we operate like any other household in Georgetown”.
The consumer said that when her credit reaches a minimum level of some 0.7 to 0.5 kilowatts, an alarm sounds and she would then top-up her keypad. She said she would usually purchase $1000 in credit weekly. The woman also stated that last December, her spending on electricity was approximately $6 200, a sum way below her expectations. She said the family had its usual Christmas lights and usage of equipment within the kitchen and other parts of the home.
But several consumers around the city told Stabroek News that while the service would be beneficial to them, they have lingering reservations mainly on whether the power company is equipped to rectify technical issues which may occur in the service, including computer glitches.
Another consumer in the Bourda market area, one of the locations which GPL had selected for piloting the service, told Stabroek News recently that she had intended to sign up for the service since she believed it would have seen her cutting down on her electricity spending. She stated however, that she preferred to wait until the service is installed countrywide before installing same at her home.
GPL had attempted to instal pre-paid meters in the North Ruimveldt area two years ago, shortly after its launch but consumers there objected, citing differences in its readings when compared to the post-paid meter.
GPL CEO Bharrat Dindyal, in 2009, had stated that the pre-paid system would first be implemented in July/August of that year at the Bourda Market and thereafter at selected homes in North Ruimveldt, Kitty and Black Bush Polder.
Back then, Dindyal stated that the service would cost the power company some $40,000 per installation. He said at the time that some 2,000-plus meters would have been installed in the selected areas and would have seen the removal of the existing fixed charge currently being paid by consumers.
The meter includes two physical components – a meter box, which is mounted on electrical poles outside homes and the keypad. The meter box is connected to existing meters and the second component, the keypad, is connected to the consumer’s fuse box.
As regards the pre-paid system, GPL stated in 2009 that the system is a computerized system similar to the credit system used by cellular phone users.
At the moment, persons can top-up their meters at Grace Kennedy’s Bill Express service, subject to a $100 service charge, as well as the Guyana Post Office Corporation and the power company office on Main Street.
Consumers will have to inform the billing clerks at top up locations of the meter number and the amount of credit they desire. He/she will then be provided with a Special Code, a 20-digit number, which will be entered on the keypad mounted in his/her home to activate credit purchased. In addition to the alarm which would alert the consumer when the credit is at a minimum level, the keypad has the ability to indicate the rate of consumption of electricity by the consumer.
The consumer can programme a specific amount of credit into his/her keypad at which point he/she may wish to be informed of remaining credit. The unit also comes with backup batteries, which have a five-year life.
Dindyal had stated at the launching of the pre-paid service that the power company wished to eventually reduce the tariff paid by consumers but this can only occur with cooperation of the public. He explained that the issue of electricity theft has seen the company losing financially in recent times.
