The Linden Electricity Company Inc (LECI) is calling on residents and businesses across Linden to maximize the use of energy saving bulbs to reduce the amount of electricity being consumed.
It has been noted that the amount of electricity being consumed across the town is skyrocketing and putting undue strain on the government and the power company.
According to LECI General Manager Patrick Dublin electricity consumption had reduced significantly following a campaign by the Government of Guyana in collaboration with Cuba, which saw residents obtaining energy saving bulbs. As a result electricity consumption was reduced by one megawatt.
“A bulk of that power that was used per month was cut by one megawatt from an average of six megawatts. One megawatt is a lot,” Dublin said.
However, over the past months the consumption of electricity per month has been exceeding six megawatts. To this end LECI is calling on consumers to assist in reducing the consumption by using the energy saving bulbs.
Dublin said that they have been promoting the use of the energy saving bulbs through TV advertisements but this has proven ineffective. “We want to look at some other thing to enable this community to really cut back,” he said, adding that there are some energy saving bulbs which are expected to be made available to Linden by the government. However the details of this were not confirmed.
While LECI/Linmine has the responsibility for power distribution, maintenance, electricity billing and collection of revenue at Mackenzie, the Government of Guyana has been subsidizing the fuel cost at approximately $150 million monthly. This could be significantly reduced with the use of energy savers.
According to Dublin, this subsidy should be fully appreciated by residents because the cost for electricity in the area would amount to approximately $40 per KH for domestic users and $70 per KH for commercial users without the subsidy.
Currently domestic users are paying $5 per KH and commercial users 12 per KH. Revenue collected from both categories of electricity consumers in Linden amounts to a mere $8 million monthly, representing only 12% of the subsidy provided by government.
The reason for the use of incandescent bulbs became evident during a check at several stores in Linden. Prices ranged from $100-$200 for the incandescent bulbs while the price of the energy savers ranged from $300-$1,200. The price for the energy saving bulbs had skyrocketed shortly after the government campaign had shown a decline in electricity consumption.
