– caters for increased demand for power, address deficit

THE sum of $86.9 million was approved by the Parliamentary Committee of Supply on Tuesday for power generation under the Office of the Prime Minister. It was highlighted that this allocation is crucial for the power companies that will benefit from it.

The sum of $10.1 million was allocated to the Linden Electricity Company Inc. (LECI) to provide additional resources to sustain its operations in Ituni.
According to information provided to the Guyana Chronicle, the LECI, while providing electricity to Linden, also manages the electricity system at Ituni and the company’s 2023 fuel budget for Ituni was some $30.8 million.

However, it was noted that, as of October 13 this year, the company had spent some $34.6 million in fuel and is projected to spend a total of $40.9 million by the end of the year which will result in a budget deficit of some $10 million.

The increased expenditure on fuel is said to be due to the higher demand for electricity as it was noted that peak demand went from some 99.8kw early in 2023 to 138.8kw currently.
Added to this, the hospital in Ituni was upgraded earlier in the year which saw several air conditioners installed, while 10 new residential customers were also added to the grid.

It can be said overall that consumers also added more cooling facilities to combat the heat and, as a result, fuel consumption went from a daily average of 580 litres to 650 litres.
Meanwhile, in relation to the supplementary provision for Mahdia Power and Light Inc. the sum of $50.3 million was sought.

It was explained that from January to September 2023, the operation and maintenance monthly expenses for the company have, on average, exceeded the revenues and government of Guyana subsidies received over the period.
This is said to be a result of the higher costs to the company for goods and services and further expenditure for the operation and maintenance of generators went up by approximately 18 per cent.

Further to this, at the end of September 2023, it was noted that the company’s bank balance stood at just over $598,000 while expenditure to the end of the year is estimated at $117.3 million and income which includes the remainder of the currently approved subsidy is projected at $66.9 million.

As such the sum of $50.3 million was requested to sustain MPL’s operations to provide electricity service to Mahdia and its environs through to the end of the year.
Meanwhile, the sum of $26.5 million was requested for Kwakwani Utilities Inc. (KUI) to correct the projected budget deficit of over $26 million.

It was stated that the KUI operates exclusively by an annual subvention from the government of Guyana and part of that subvention is used to pay the Bauxite Company Guyana Inc. (BCGI) for the supply of electricity to the community of Landernville, Region 10.

For the year 2023, the government of Guyana approved subvention to the company to the tune of $694 million and in that amount is the sum of $27.6 million for an average monthly payment of $2.3 million to the BCGI for electricity supplied to the Landernville community for 2023.

However, it was noted that the monthly billings from the BCGI for January to August of 2023 were on average $4.3 million and this higher payment was attributed to the higher operation and maintenance cost for the BCGI.
The KUI is projected to spend some $54.1 million for 2023 as opposed to the budgeted $27.6 million for electricity supplied to the community. The supplementary provision of $26.5 million is expected to address the deficit as a result of the increased cost.