The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) missed several key targets in 2014 including in relation to the number of blackouts and the utilities commission will be reviewing the company’s performance and deciding whether its explanations are acceptable.
Pursuant to the amendment of the licence granted to the GPL, under Sections 4 and 42 (3) (c) of the Electricity Sector Reform Act 1999 and issued effective October 4, 2010; GPL is required to submit annually; beginning from 2011, its performance in the Operating Standards and Performance Targets (OS&PT).
On Tuesday, a hearing was convened by the Public Utilities Commis-sion (PUC) to measure GPL’s performance against the standards, and for the company to explain to the regulatory body and the public at large, the reason(s) why the targets were not met.
GPL’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Bharat Dindyal, explained each standard at the hearing at the Cara Lodge.
As regards customer interruptions, GPL’s commitment was that on average, a customer should have no more than 100 interruptions for 2014; and that the sum of the duration of the outages for the period should also be no more than 100 hours per consumer.
The company however failed in this standard; since interruptions were recorded at 136.36 and hours of interruptions at 140.16; surpassing the intended targets.
In relation to voltage regulation, Dindyal, said GPL was expected to:
(A) Maintain in stable condition voltage of ± 5% of the nominal voltage, and ± 10% following a system disturbance and
(B) Require a period of no more than 40 days for restoring customers’ voltage complaints due to network configuration, vegetation, upgrades of lines, additions transformers, etc.
GPL said that since it was difficult to monitor the voltage delivered to each customer the standard is based on the number of voltage complaints received and the time taken to resolve them. It said that 1,311 complaints were received in 2014 and all were addressed within 40 days.
In relation to Meter Reading: the CEO said that GPL undertook to:
Dispatch 97% of maximum demand bills based on actual meter reading
Dispatch 90% of non-maximum demand bills based on actual reading
The company however failed in this regard, as its 2014 achievement mark fell below the targets; recording 91 and 89 percentages, respectively.
As it relates to the Issuing of Bills, GPL undertook to:
Issue non-maximum demand bills within 10 days after a meter has been read, and
Issue maximum demand bills within 7 days after a meter has been read
Dindyal said that this target was achieved as readings were done within nine and six days respectively.
In examining Accounts Receivable, the CEO said that the purpose of that standard was to ensure that GPL collected its billings in a timely manner, “taken to mean a forty day cycle; and to benefit from the improved cash flow that attends it. The presentation revealed that, for the purpose of this standard, the calculation is based only on consumer debtors.
This went beyond the 40-day period as the collection was done within 50 days.
As regards Accounts Payable: GPL noted that the Commission understands that for this standard, GPL has limited its accounts payable to suppliers for goods and services that are specific to generation expenses only. The purpose of this standard, is to ensure that creditors are paid in a timely manner so that contractors do not withhold either supplies or services from the company that may prove detrimental to the general public.
The standard sets an allowed credit period of 26 days. This was however not achieved within that time frame, but rather 62 days.
On the standard of System Losses, GPL said it committed to reducing system losses to 30.9% . This was the exact achievement in 2013. The power company bettered this target, recording a 28.7% loss.
On the standard of Average Availability, The CEO said that, the availability factor of a power plant is the amount of time that it is able to produce electricity over a certain period, divided by the amount of the time in the period.
The company also failed to achieve this target. The target was set at 77%. The 2014 achievement was however recorded at 73.63%.
According to law, the Commission must now review GPL’s performance in comparison with the OS&PT, to determine whether the power company has failed to meet such standards or performance targets in any material respect.
The Commission has 30 days, beginning March 30, to make a determination based on GPL’s explanations, whether failure to meet the standards was due to circumstances beyond the control of the company or was as a result of policies not consistent with accepted best practices. If it is the latter, the Commission may, under the powers granted it by the licence, levy a fine on the company.
The PUC was represented by Justice Prem Persaud, its Chairman, Commissioner Maurice Solomon, Commissioner Badrie Persaud, Financial Analyst 1 Moorsalene Sankar and Secretary/ Legal Officer Vidiahar Persaud; who chaired Tuesday’s hearing.
GPL’s team comprised Dindyal, Deputy CEO Ash Deonarine, Deputy CEO (Technical) Colin Welch, Human Resource Director Balgobin Persaud, Divisional Director of Loss Reduction Parsram Persaud and Chief Financial Officer Loris Nathoo.
In attendance at the public hearing were also students and lecturers of the University of Guyana and other members of the public.
A number of issues were raised by some citizens who were given assurances by the CEO that their concerns will be thoroughly investigated and that feedback will be given as part of the company’s efforts to better serve the public.
