The Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) will soon be installing prepaid meters at selected locations across the country as part of a pilot project aimed at improving the consumption of electricity by consumers.

Officials of the company, including Chief Executive Officer Bharrat Dindyal and Public Relations Officer Denise Adams, met consumers yesterday at the St Angela’s Primary School, on Thomas Street, in an attempt to explain the benefits, uses and other factors involved in the installation of the meters. The new pre-paid system will first be implemented in July/August this year at the Bourda Market and thereafter at selected homes in North Ruimveldt, Kitty and Black Bush Polder.

According to Dindyal, the meters will cost the power company some $40,000 per installation. He said there are issues regarding the electrical wiring within the Bourda Market and these were raised with the Mayor and City Council, which controls the market, since 2002. Dindyal said that the installation of the 2,000-plus meters will see the removal of the existing fixed charge currently being paid by consumers.

He explained that the prepaid meters include two physical components. These are a meter box, which will be mounted on electrical poles outside of homes, or, as in the case of the Bourda Market, at a safe area in the vicinity of those consumers’ place of business.

The meter box will be connected to existing meters and the second component, which is a small keypad, will be connected to the consumer’s fuse box.
As regards the pre-paid system, Dindyal explained that it is a computerized system similar to the credit system used by cellular phone users. He said consumers will be able to purchase credit in any denomination such as a $500 Power Card. These cards will also be available at Bill Express services, subject to a $100 service charge, as well as the Guyana Post Office Corporation. The consumer will have to inform the billing clerks at those locations of the meter number and the amount of credit they desire. He/she will then be provided with a Special Code, which will be entered on the keypad mounted in his/her home to activate credit purchased. This device has the ability to indicate the rate of consumption of electricity by the consumer and it is equipped with an alarm system, which will alert consumers when only a small amount of credit remains available.

The consumer can programme a specific amount of credit into his/her keypad at which point he/she may wish to be informed of remaining credit. The unit also comes with backup batteries, which have a five-year lifetime.

Dindyal assured that the pre-paid metering system will ensure adequate power consumption by consumers, since persons will be more conscious of the amount of electricity utilized on a daily basis. He said a study in Colombia recently indicated that electricity consumption dropped by 15% with the installation of pre-paid meters in that country.

When asked by a member of the public at yesterday’s forum about plans the company has in place for power outages, Dindyal said GPL is currently working to upgrade the electricity supply and the completion of the new Kingston Power Station will see an additional 20 megawatts of power being added to national grid. He said the company plans to invest some $40 million, which was provided by the Chinese government, in improving electricity supply, adding that a new state-of-the-art control system, with automatic voltage controls, will be installed at the Sophia Power Station to function in tandem with the current power supply. Plans are also in the making to establish an electrical sub-station in North Ruimveldt, close to the Multilateral School, he explained.

Another consumer asked what effect the fluctuation of oil prices on the world market will have on the system. Dindyal responded that this may be the only weakness with the new system in which a consumer may want to “stock-up” his credit at a certain point and this will be at his/her benefit in the long haul.
Regarding arrears consumers may have at the time of installation of the meters, Dindyal said an arrangement will be put in place whereby the consumer will be given a period of time to offset those expenses. As an example, he said a consumer may purchase credit worth $5,000. If the power company was owed $2,000 prior to the installation of the pre-paid meter, then the consumer, after an agreed arrangement, will be automatically credited with $3,000.

The CEO told the gathering that GPL wants to eventually reduce the tariff paid by consumers but this can only occur with cooperation of the public, explaining that the issue of electricity theft has seen the company losing financially in recent times.

GPL officials will be visiting the Bourda Market in the coming weeks to explain the new metering process to consumers there while a user manual will be provided to consumers, explaining, among other issues, how to add credit to one’s pre-paid meter.

A hotline will also be in operation which will enable customers to report any problems encountered with their pre-paid meters. In addition, a special arrangement is being examined to provide electricity to the consumer in the event the pre-paid meter fails.