Power thieves hitting GPL hard -- losses at $2.4 billion By Chamanlall Naipaul
Guyana Chronicle
December 9, 2006

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GUYANA Power and Light (GPL) yesterday reported that its intensified campaign to cut commercial losses of power by reducing electricity stealing and illegal connections, has yielded positive results but it still faces an uphill task.

GPL Chairman, Mr. Ronald Alli, at a press conference at the NCN TV studios in Georgetown, reported that through monitoring and other loss reduction techniques, losses have dropped to 33.8% from an earlier estimated rate of 42%.

Sales have been showing an increase over the past three months, he announced.

“This is certainly encouraging to management and the board and is clearly indicative of the right approach,” he said.

Alli said there has been significant work in reducing illegal connections by constant visits and removing wires in problem areas and in identifying and dealing with some large and small businesses with metering deficiencies.

He reported that since the replacement of electro-mechanical meters with electronic meters began, new measures are being taken to influence the accurate reading of power consumed. These include rewiring current transformers, conveniently disabling meters, internal manipulation of meters and physical damage to meters.

Alli said GPL recognises that higher tariffs will increase the theft of electricity and it has tried to keep increases to a minimal level despite hefty rises in the price of fuel.

He added that if losses are reduced, GPL could be in a position to further lower tariffs which will benefit all customers. “It is clearly a Catch 22 situation,” he reiterated.

Alli said to further support the loss reduction caused by theft of electricity, the company has expanded its legal resources, both internally and externally, as well as its intelligence gathering capacity.

Acting GPL Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Bharrat Dindyal also emphasised the importance of reducing losses through stopping illegal practices, noting that “the spectre of losses remains a separate and special challenge.”

He revealed that a recent loss assessment study done as part of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) financed Unserved Areas Electrification Programme (UAEP), showed that the annual cost of non-technical losses to GPL amounts to $6.3 billion, of which electricity theft alone accounts for $2.4 billion.

“It is obvious that non-technical loss reduction has to occupy a prominent place over the coming years,” Dindyal stressed.

However, he indicated that GPL is hoping to reduce non-technical losses to 2.8% by 2011 through the implementation of several measures such as upgrading metering installation for 3,000 of its largest customers; replacing 75,000 meters for small businesses and residential accounts; replacing the current billing system with a state of the art customer information system; aggressively targeting electricity theft; expanding the use of commercial and other intelligence to identify cases of electricity theft, corruption and manipulation; continuing the investigation of cases where customers are billed for zero consumption; and introducing hand-held meter reading loggers.

GPL Divisional Director for Internal Audit, Mr. Ramtahal Samaroo, said several raids were conducted on the East and West Coast Demerara, East and West Bank Demerara, West Berbice, Sophia and Essequibo in joint operations with the Guyana Police Force.

This, he said, led to the removal of more than 6,000 illegal connections in the past five months.

However, Samaroo said within a few days, more than 70% of these illegal connections removed were reconnected, although persons were arrested and charged.

Police support in the exercise was invaluable, he said.