Dear Editor,
Reform of the electricity supply in Linden was recognized as necessary, and was promulgated in mid-1976 by the then Prime Minister, Linden F S Burnham. In an article entitled ‘Guyana Electricity Corporation to take over electricity supply at Linden’ published in the GUYBAU news of Friday, July 23, 1976, the then Prime Minister was reported to have disclosed that the electricity supply for the entire Linden area would be incorporated into the electricity supply for the entire country of Guyana.
In 2011, the Treasury, from taxes and revenues of all of the people of Guyana, put $2,576,320,000 towards the subsidizing of electricity costs in Linden – that was a subsidy of $60.81 per kWh billed to the community; a subsidy of $17,000./month ($204,000./year) for the average domestic consumer; a subsidy of $50,000./month ($600,000./year) for the average business customer, in Linden.
If the continued growth and development of Linden is to proceed on a sound basis and without constraint, electricity costs in Linden would need to be standardized with the rest of the country. It is widely recognized that it is, indeed, unsustainable to continue to indefinitely subsidize electricity costs for Linden. The initial adjustment would be disruptive, yes, but the pain would pass and Linden will be free of the constraint of availability of subsidy for electricity!
The government’s aim is to have the Linden area merged seamlessly into GPL by the beginning of 2016, the year during which hydro-electricity should become available to the national grid.
The Proposed Reform – Phase One
The reform in the supply and pricing of electricity in Linden, effective from July 1, 2012 – that is, for the second half of this year – will be implemented as follows:-
(i) Merge the supply area of Linden Utility Services Co-op Society Ltd. (LUSCL) into Linden Electricity Company Inc (LECI);
(ii) Align the classification of customers in Linden with that of GPL, and adopt the tariff schedule of GPL;
(iii) Calculate the monthly electricity bill of each customer in accordance with the GPL tariff; but,
(iv) Each customer will pay only half of the bill, as calculated for the remainder of 2012; and,
(v) Bauxite pensioners will receive the first 100 kWh each month at no charge, and will pay according to (iv) above for consumption beyond 100 kWh/month.
Even with the reform outlined above being implemented, $1,865,844,000 is provided for in the Budget of 2012, as subsidy to consumers of electricity in Linden.
Yours faithfully,
Samuel AA Hinds MP
Prime Minister of the Republic of Guyana.
