Dear Editor
I REFER to the editorial of 2nd September 2017. The Management of Power Producers & Distributors Inc. (PPDI) welcomes scrutiny of the electricity sector. We would like to provide clarity to three issues; (a) our role in the electricity sector, (b) our capacity and (c) our projected profitability.

Role
PPDI is a state-owned enterprise which was established in December 2016 and was contracted to operate and maintain four Guyana Power & Light Inc. (GPL) owned power plants. These power plants were previously operated and maintained by Wartsila Operations Guyana Inc. (WOGI). PPDI undertook responsibility for 106 of the 174 megawatts of installed power-generation capacity in the Demerara Berbice Interconnected System.

Transmission and distribution of electricity is not part of our mandate – the technical boundary of our operations is at the 13.8KV Switch Gear of the power plants. We recognise that for consumers, any disruption of service is unacceptable, but PPDI can only account for factors under its control.

Capacity
The editorial suggested a cost-benefit analysis be carried out to ascertain whether PPDI can deliver enough and reliable energy for distribution. In its simplest form, this suggestion can be deconstructed into two aspects – structural and cognitive. A cost-benefit analysis was carried out before the incorporation of PPDI. PPDI’s performance for the eight months thus far is on par with or exceeds WOGI’s, using the established key performance indicators of the industry. Our contract provides for service rates to GPL below what was projected by its predecessor, resulting in cost savings for the utility. PPDI is developing a website where it will publish these details for anyone to review and, where relevant, comparative data is available, to carry out objective analyses.

The issue of enough generation deals with installed capacity. Under our current arrangement, which is similar to our predecessor, investment in expansion of the nationally available production capacity is the responsibility of the owners of the plants, i.e., GPL. The management and technical staff of PPDI is highly qualified and we plan to maintain and where possible improve the human resources available to deliver on our mandate.

Projected Profitability
Minister David Patterson, in his charge to the management and staff of PPDI, encouraged us to manage PPDI with true entrepreneurial thrust and gusto. This charge translates to managing the entity with focus on eliminating inefficiencies and excesses and for the company to be profitable.

Our projected net returns are estimated to be within the range of 8-12% of revenues. Government and the people of Guyana expect state-owned enterprises to be efficient and profitable, and PPDI intends to be one such. The alternative would be to be a burden on the taxpayer, a circumstance no one desires.

Regards
Arron Fraser
Chief Executive Officer
Power Producers and Distributors Inc.