A fallen pole on one of two Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) transmission lines stretching from Golden Grove to Sophia caused a total shutdown in Demerara and Eastern Berbice yesterday morning, according to the power company.
In a press release, GPL said the shutdown occurred at 7:35am and power was restored to all affected communities in Demerara at 8:44am, while Berbice was totally repowered at 9:15am.
The company said consumers within Kingston, sections of Lacytown and Cummingsburg experienced intermittent outages throughout its efforts to restore power. Subsequently, it added, several trees fell onto the network on Hadfield Streets, delaying the restoration of power.
Up to yesterday afternoon, GPL said crews were engaged in mopping up operations and addressing isolated cases where individual consumers may have had service interruption caused by the high winds.
In light of the inclement weather patterns, the company also announced that it has implemented several initiatives to mitigate the probability of any network faults. “The company has strengthened its emergency response services to ensure prompt response time. In addition, we are imploring upon all Guyanese to exercise due caution where necessary to alleviate the instances of network faults and also ensure one’s safety,” it said in an advisory on its website.
Among its recommended safety measures is that customers, in the event of flooding, turn off their main switches and place all electrical appliances on higher ground. Further, it said customers should stay away from trees that are touching power lines or may sway in the breeze and touch power lines.
GPL also advised the public to report emergencies to the following numbers: 2264015/6 (Demerara), 333-2186 (Berbice) and 777-5015 (Essequibo).
