FOR far too long, Guyanese have had to contend with electricity service that is less than desirable and some may argue, not without some justification, getting from bad to worse. According to the United Nations, education, healthcare, fresh water sources, sanitation and energy are considered essential services. Such services are deemed vital to man’s wholesome existence and are measures by which development in society is graded based on access, reliability, affordability, and quality.
In this Information Age and consumer-oriented consumptive pattern, electricity plays a vital role. From the charging of a cell phone, of which many people have more than one, to reliance on internet and computers for business, entertainment, information and education, the supply of electricity is essential. In the consumer-oriented society, appliances, perishable items, cool refreshment and ice need electricity. In short, electricity has become second-nature to man. Its absence or interruption becomes a disruption of the way things ought to be and therefore an irritant, even for those possessing a generator or alternative supply.

Water– seen as the twin service of energy/electricity– is being improved not only in quality but accessibility to communities that never had, whereas electricity supply is still problematic. There are areas where supply is at times interrupted for days, as in the instance of the Essequibo Coast recently. Friday residents in Demerara awoke to blackout, which lasted for hours.
In the 21st century it can no longer be considered acceptable that excuses are being made for poor service or that people must be accepting of it. There comes a time when enough is enough and the poor service citizens continue to receive has to be addressed as matter of national priority. What the society needs beyond the Public Utilities Commission where complaints are laid is serious national conversations on the performance and quality of our energy supply, not merely to ridicule, though deserving, but to help GPL to improve its performance.

As a state-owned institution it is being managed by a Board which sets the policy. Citizens are not without understanding that reliable electricity comes at a cost to the GPL, which should make it even more pressing to get to properly diagnosing the problem and fixing it. Tinkering will not realise solution other than having government continuing to throw money behind the company which may also include borrowing. At the same time it cannot be ignored even as supply is substandard the Power Producers and Distributors Inc. (PPDI) that produces power for GPL, pegs its profit to be in excess of US$2 million by 2019.
It may also be worthy to look at the feasibility and practicality of having GPL remaining in its present form as a distributor of electricity. It may be feasible to examine the company’s strength and where it can better serve the public, and have it concentrate its resources in that regard. For instance, it may be worthwhile doing a cost-benefit analysis of the contracted PPDI that is involved in power generation to determine whether it has the capacity to deliver enough and reliable energy for distribution as GPL works in tandem with the nation’s housing development programme. Electricity is an essential service and citizens have had it to their throats living with its supply being unreliable, unplanned, unscheduled and suffering extended periods of interruption.