THE Guyana Power and Light (GPL) Inc has announced a 20% reduction in net rates for the supply of electricity across all tariff categories effective today. This was made possible after intensive review by the new Board of Directors in consultation with its executive management team, GPL said in a statement. The company said it took into account the reduction in world market prices for fuel over the past year, which has favourably impacted its overall costs and wishes to pass on the benefits of these reductions to its customers.

“This reduction will be applied as a 5% reduction on the basic rate of both fixed charge and energy charge, and a further 15% fuel rebate on the energy charge. Given that the company had previously applied an interim 10% fuel rebate on the energy charge in March 2015, the overall effect would see an additional 10% reduction on electricity bills,” GPL said.

According to the power company it would like to reduce tariffs even further, but is constrained by its current level of overheads and moreso by the technical and commercial losses, which in 2015 amounted to 29.2% of dispatched power. “These losses include losses in transmission and distribution due to aged infrastructure, as well as theft of electricity, meter-tampering and other non-technical losses,” GPL said.

The company said it is actively engaged in addressing these losses and has approved a capital programme of G$9.5B. This programme is intended to replace old generating assets, construct and upgrade substations, expand and upgrade the transmission and distribution network and expand smart metering, amongst others.

In addition, GPL said it is engaged in a Power Utility Upgrade Programme financed by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with grant funding from the European Union (EU) to the tune of US$64M. This programme is intended to strengthen management, improve operational efficiencies and reduce losses.

“The company recognises that there is some level of public dissatisfaction with its services and is committed to actively addressing all issues relating to this, including faster response times to customer queries; more efficient delivery of services; ensuring the integrity of its officers, both internal and contracted; delivery of timely billing and information, amongst others.” GPL said too that it recognises “That our customers are the ultimate stakeholders and therefore is requesting the public’s patience and understanding. Additionally, the company’s significant losses due to electricity theft, tampering of meters, meter by-passes and other forms of dishonesty result in higher operating costs and GPL is requesting the help of the public in reporting and addressing these matters.”

GPL New Rates

The new Net Rates can be seen in the table below:

Category Tariffs Current Fixed Rate / Demand Charge Fixed Rate / Demand Charge effective April 1, 2016 Current Energy Rate Energy Rate effective April 1, 2016 15 % Fuel Rebate G$ Net Energy Rate GY$ effective April 1, 2016 Non Government   Residential: Lifeline A >75 kWh 359.52 341.54 48.42 46.00 6.90 39.10 Residential A <75 kWh 369.52 351.04 53.78 51.09 7.66 43.43 Commercial B 2596.84 2467.00 69.82 66.33 9.95 56.38 Industrial C 1852.86 1760.22 63.07 59.92 8.99 50.93 Industrial D 1852.86 1760.22 60.41 57.39 8.61 48.78 Street Lights E     53.35 50.68 7.60 43.08 Government Residential GA >75 kWh 406.81 386.47 58.42 55.50 8.32 47.17 Residential GA <75 kWh 406.81 386.47 59.21 56.25 8.44 47.81 Commercial GB 2709.74 2574.25 72.85 69.21 10.38 58.83 Industrial GC 1933.42 1836.75 65.81 62.52 9.38 53.14 Industrial GD 1933.42 1836.75 63.04 59.89 8.98 50.90 Industrial GE     55.67 52.89 7.93 44.95
Customers whose billing cycle began in the part of March and ends in April will benefit from the reduction on their entire consumption for this period. GPL will therefore, not prorate consumption when applying the reduced rate and fuel rebate.