Bartica is set for a 31-hour blackout today and GPL is beset by various faults across the country including on its pivotal 69kv transmission line in the city leaving consumers and the business community fuming.
The Guyana Power and Light (GPL) said that power outages currently being experienced across the country are the result of faults along the 69kv transmission line linking the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System (DBIS) and emergency works on a generator in Essequibo.
Bartica has an unrelated problem. GPL announced that it will commence repairs on the No.10 generating set at the Bartica Power Station from today. These repairs are expected to last 30 hours and completion is likely tomorrow around noon. “These corrective works are necessary to prevent total failure of the generating sets and capacity,” the statement said.
It also said that while a majority of the town would have no electricity from 06:00 hrs today to 13:00 hrs tomorrow, “customers on First Avenue between 3rd and 9th streets” would have power.
“The remaining operational generator (No. 12) with generating capacity of 500kw will remain in service during this period to dispense power within the power station and customers within proximity of the station for the execution of works,” the release said.
It urged residents of Bartica to prepare fully for the extended period of outage.
On Tuesday, there were three shutdowns of the DBIS at approximately 12:03 hrs, 12:58 hrs and 16:04 hrs, GPL said. Yesterday, at approximately 14:45 hrs central Georgetown was hit with a power outage which lasted more than an hour. In other areas around the city, the power went off later and remained off for more than five hours in some instances.
According to the statement issued by the power company, the fault on the transmission line linking the Kingston Power Station to the Sophia Substation (Dispatch centre) resulted in the DBIS shutdown. At Fairfield, Essequibo Coast, the statement said, there was a 22-hour power disruption owing to emergency repairs being carried out on the No. 6 generator.
Meanwhile, six-hour load shedding exercises saw Essequibo Coast customers from Anna Regina to La Union experiencing an outage from 06:00 hrs to 12:00 hrs yesterday. This was subsequently rotated to customers from Lima to Charity from 12:00 hrs to 06:00 hrs because of the unavailability of the No. 1 generator, which is being repaired, according to the press statement.
The company said it is working to ensure that operations in Essequibo return to a state of normalcy by tomorrow the latest.
While the press release did not address these areas, East Bank Demerara, East Coast Demerara and along the Corentyne Coast were also plagued with power outages. On the Corentyne, power outages were experienced on Monday from around 10 am to 3 pm and 9 pm to 11 pm, while on Tuesday the outages lasted from 7 am to 10 am, 12.30 pm to 1 pm and 3.40 pm to 5 pm.
In Region Five (Mahaica/Berbice), residents endured a 12-hour power outage from 8 am to 8 pm on Monday.
These outages have affected businesses and residents.
Yesterday, President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Vishnu Doerga said the blackouts are “causing a loss of productivity and an increased cost in seeking alternative power sources. Since GPL does not earn any income during power outages, I am sure they know the importance of providing uninterrupted power. We therefore urge GPL to make all efforts to address these outages.”
Numerous efforts were made by Stabroek News to contact Minister of Public Infrastructure David Patterson, Minister with that Ministry Annette Ferguson, Chairman of the GPL Board of Directors Robert Badal and acting Chief Executive Officer of GPL Renford Homer to comment on the situation. None of them could be reached.
In an invited comment Region Six Chairman David Armogan said, “This is getting ridiculous. Instead of going forward it seems like we are going backward.” He pointed out that because of the power outages, “Workers cannot work properly because they don’t have access to the necessary tools to perform their duties. Another thing is many buildings are equipped with air conditioning units and when the power goes out the heat that is passing now won’t allow you to concentrate.”
According to Region Five Chairman Vickchand Ramphal, both residential and commercial areas of the region have been affected. He explained that business owners have vented their frustration over the fact that sales were affected.
Meanwhile, business owners in the city said the power disruptions gravely affected them.
Richard Sarjou, owner of Chetsons, told this publication, “It is terrible. Business is already slow and because the place is hot customers don’t come in… Customers come and as soon the power goes off they leave the store.” He said that because of the fluctuation and unstable power supply he has to be cautious about leaving appliances plugged on. He emphasized that the power company hardly compensates for damage, adding that lights in his store were damaged.
Another businessman, who asked to remain anonymous, had a similar complaint, adding that not only customers, but his staff were affected by the outages, as his store is air conditioned.
“Customers would suck their teeth and walk out of the store when the current goes out,” he indicated. The businessman said GPL should invest more in the energy sector to keep power outages at a minimum.
Sam Ajouri, proprietor of American Home and Beauty Care, told Stabroek News that since his opening on Monday at Robb and Wellington streets, customers and staff have complained over the power outages. He said that because of the outages the air-conditioning unit cannot work. Further, the store’s opening was delayed as the fluctuating electricity caused sparking, which led to the building not being powered in time.
He also highlighted that when the power returns the voltage is very low resulting in lights in the store not being able to work. He expressed the hope that the utility company would put measures in place to urgently rectify the situation.
