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GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Mar. 31, (CMC) – Guyanese will be paying less for electricity as of April 1, due to the fall in world oil prices.
Today, the Guyana Power and Light Company (GPL) announced a 20 per cent reduction in net rates for the supply of electricity across all Tariff categories.
The utility company said the reduction would be applied as a five per cent reduction on the basic rate of both fixed charge and energy charge, and a further 15 per cent fuel rebate on the energy charge.
“Given that the Company had previously applied an interim 10 per cent fuel rebate on the energy charge in March 2015, the overall effect would see an additional 10 per cent reduction on electricity bills,” GPL added.
“The company took into account the reduction in world market prices for fuel over the past year, which has favorably impacted its overall costs and wishes to pass on the benefits of these reductions to its customers,” the company noted.
The electricity supplier said it wanted to reduce the tariffs even further, but is constrained by its current level of overheads and, more so, by the technical and commercial losses, which, in 2015, amounted to 29.2% of dispatched power.
“These losses include losses in transmission and distribution, due to aged infrastructure, as well as theft of electricity, meter tampering and other non technical losses,” GPL said.
The company also used the opportunity to appeal to consumers to report electricity theft.
“The company’s significant losses, due to electricity theft, tampering of meters, meter by-passes and other forms of dishonesty result in higher operating costs and GPL is requesting the help of the public in reporting and addressing these matters,” the utility company added.
The company said, it acknowledges reports of some level of public dissatisfaction with its services and is committed to actively addressing all issues, including: faster response times to customer queries; more efficient delivery of services; ensuring the integrity of its officers, both internal and contracted; and delivery of timely billing and information, amongst others.
