Dear Editor,

Mr. Roy Paul’s letter captioned “Early payment of electricity bills will prejudice pensioners” (SN 2/2/07) suggests that some of our customers are labouring under a great deal of misconception regarding their electricity bills and payment. We are grateful to Mr. Paul for representing the interests of our senior citizens, and we’ll take the opportunity he presents to correct these misconceptions.

GPL’s billing schedule has not been changed in over 6 years. The schedule is based on a geographical system that sees bills being prepared for separate zones at different times of the month. This means that the Bill Dates and Bill Due dates would vary from area to area, sometimes from month to month.

What is constant is the 21-day credit period that every customer is given. This period begins on the date the bill is produced. We would like our customers to understand that disconnection for non-payment rarely concerns the bill that had become due in that month. Disconnection is usually carried out for arrears that are two (2) to four (4) months old. For instance, in this month of February 2007, GPL is in the process of disconnecting supply for unpaid bills for electricity used in November, 2006.

While our billing schedule remains constant, GPL usually makes exceptions to accommodate customers like our senior citizens and others with special or unexpected circumstances. We expect our customers to pay their bills before the 21 day credit period expires, but disconnection would hardly take place the next day. If it does, it usually is for months-old arrears.

Yours faithfully,

Marjorie F. Chester

Public Relations Officer

Guyana Power and

Light

Inc