Even with the power from the Skeldon Sugar Modernization Project (SSMP), Berbicians are still experiencing short blackouts as the Guyana Power and Light Incorporated (GPL) does not have to capacity to accommodate the full supply.

Residents are pleased that lengthy blackouts that have been plaguing them for some time have eased considerably with the additional power from the SSMP to the GPL grid but they are concerned that they have still been experiencing the “occasional short blackouts.”

One resident said the blackouts lasted for about half hour or more some days and at other times, the power would go off during the wee hours of the morning. He opined that this was as a result of “teething problems which management can soon fix”.

However, a Guysuco official told Stabroek News, “for the power supply to improve fully in Berbice, GPL has to upgrade its 69-KV transmission line from the Number 53 Village sub-station to the Skeldon Power Station.”

He said the Skeldon project can supply over six megawatts of power to GPL but the company was “working below that capacity. They don’t have the infrastructure in place so Berbicians are not enjoying the full benefit