The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has decided not to impose any fines on the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) noting that while the company failed to achieve some of its 2021 targets, it did, however, improve in several areas.
The decision was contained in a review of GPL’s operating standards and performance targets for 2021.
“The Commission commends the Company on its achievement of most of its standards for the reporting year 2021. The Commission takes this opportunity to recognize the Company’s continuous strides in the reduction of system losses, which loss poses an enormous financial burden to the company,” the report of the Commission stated.
It added that GPL’s improvements in its quality of service and continued efforts to upgrade its infrastructure are commendable. The Commission noted that it did take into account the impacts of COVID-19 on GPL’s operations along with the implementation of a few mechanisms to operate much more smoothly.
The report informed “In arriving at its decision, the Commission is cognizant that the imposition of penalties is often a measure of last resort for egregious events and not to be applied lightly. Therefore, the Commission after careful review of the targets achieved and GPL’s projections for improved service has determined that no penalty is warranted for GPL’s 2021 performance.
However, the Commission said that it will continue to monitor GPL’s performance to ensure the proper rollout and implementation of its projected measures that are intended to directly benefit consumers.
Under the regulations governing the PUC, it is empowered to impose a fine on GPL of an amount no more than 25% of the total value of dividends which are payable to the company’s shareholders at the end of the year under consideration.
According to a report, consumers saw an increase in the average number of power outages from 90 to 103. GPL says this happened because of feeder and transmission line trips along with increased planned maintenance works.
During the 2020 review, GPL had informed the PUC that it intends to construct redundancy networks at critical points between Sophia and Onverwagt and Sophia and Garden of Eden with the intent to maintain electricity supply during planned maintenance. This, it had said, will reduce the number of power outages.
The PUC said that GPL failed to achieve its target set out for meter reading but it did achieve targets outlined for satisfying debts to creditors, recovering losses, and issuing bills on time.
