THE Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) has launched a pilot project with Courts Guyana Inc to help pensioners cut down on their use of electrical energy.The first benefactor was 72-year-old Dolores Daniels of Eccles Housing Scheme, East Bank Demerara who received one Samsung inverter fridge, compliments of Courts.
According to Head of the Energy Statistics Division at GEA, Shevon Wood, when it was brought to the attention of that agency that a pensioner who was having difficulty paying her electricity bill and was seeking assistance to acquire energy-efficient bulbs, the agency readily assisted.
“Mrs Daniels, since becoming a widow, has found it difficult to pay her utility bills from the Guyana Power Light (GPL). Her monthly electricity expense was approximately $13,500. The pensioner indicated that since her husband’s passing, she has been using her lights more frequently as it provides a sense of additional security,” the statistician noted.
In addition, during the energy assessment conducted by GEA engineers, it was discovered that Mrs Daniels’s refrigerator consumed a significant percentage of her total energy consumption.
The GEA official said the agency assisted by partnering with Courts in donating an energy-saving inverter type refrigerator that will consume half the amount of energy her current fridge utilises.
She emphasised that it was then decided to use Mrs Daniels’s home as a pilot project, whereby the findings and data collected will be used to validate a project which has been submitted for funding to an international organisation and will be replicated to benefit pensioners countrywide.
“The partnership with Courts and the donation of the refrigerator will not only lend to assisting Mrs Daniels, but also pensioners in similar situations across Guyana. It is partnerships such as these that are needed to facilitate the empowering of Guyana’s sustainable development,” Wood explained.
Mrs Daniels expressed great thanks to the agencies for their assistance as it goes a long way in helping her as a pensioner in her daily life.
Meanwhile, Courts Guyana also plans to further partner with the GEA and the Guyana National Bureau of Standards (GNBS) in rolling out energy-efficient appliances that are labelled with the savings in Guyana dollars, so consumers can understand the merit of purchasing energy-saving appliances.

By Rabindra Rooplall