GPL cites improved service during holiday season

The Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) says it managed for the second consecutive year to successfully maintain a stable supply of electricity during the Christmas season.

According to a GPL release, only five shutdowns were experienced in the year 2019, as against a total of 12 shutdowns in 2018, and 25 in 2017. Customers in Demerara, Berbice, Anna Regina, Bartica, Leguan and Wakenaam experienced minimal service interruptions, which were largely attributed to localised faults.

The company assured that it aims “to completely eliminate these events,” even though this will be a challenge until existing generation and transmission & distribution (T&D) systems are upgraded. Despite being plagued with an aged Transmission and Distribution (T&D) network, the utility company says it is diligently conducting planned maintenance activities on the network, while having an increased number of emergency response crews on standby to address localised faults.