The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has indicated that there will be no penalties for the state-owned Guyana Power and Light (GPL), despite the company falling short of its performance target last year.
The Commission has published its 35th Annual report, and has concluded that GPL has seen significant progress in recent times, but it still failed to reach its performance target.
“In keeping with its statutory mandate, the Commission conducted its annual review of the Operating Standards and Performance Targets (OSPT) for GPL for the year 2024 on March 13, 2025. This review was held by way of a public hearing, attended by key stakeholders and members of the media. While it was concluded that GPL did not attain the majority of its performance targets, after careful consideration, the Commission determined that no penalties would be imposed. Factors that led to the Commission’s decision included recurring damage to infrastructure caused by vehicular and equipment incidents, global software system updates and electricity theft, which impacted the company’s performance during the year,” PUC Chairman, Dr. Nanda Gopaul said in his report.
Notwithstanding the circumstances, the Commission emphasized that improved compliance remained an expectation, and GPL was required to continue to strengthen its operational performance.
The Commission further noted that the company’s transformative agenda to modernize its infrastructure and improve service reliability for consumers, includes the construction of new substations and upgrading existing infrastructure, clean energy initiatives and the implementation of advanced technology solutions.
The Commission highlighted that in 2025, GPL recorded 86 customer interruptions, one above the target of 85.
The PUC described the performance as commendable when compared to 2024 when there were 126 interruptions.
At the 2025 PUC Public Hearing, GPL explained that feeder trips, accidents involving construction equipment and vehicles coming into contact with transmission lines are the main causes for the interruptions. Although a great improvement this index remained far above the acceptable values for a modern developing country.
For the reporting year 2025, the PUC said GPL recorded system losses of 25.43% compared to a target of 22.43%, which was above the standard. This indicated that the company was unable to meet its loss reduction target for the year. When compared to the 2024 losses which stood at 24.71%, there was an increase in 2025 which suggested some reversal in the company’s achievement.
The PUC said the gap between the actual and target values also highlighted ongoing challenges faced by the company in its management of both the technical and commercial losses.
The company had indicated that the reason for not achieving the system loss target in 2024 was due to the diversion of its workforce towards prepaid meter upgrade and haemorrhaging of its skilled workforce to the oil and gas sector. Issues such as electricity theft, metering inefficiencies, street lighting and network losses which GPL had noted, may have contributed to this outcome.
It was also noted that in 2025, there has been steady progress in the addition of renewable energy systems, in particular, solar energy, onto the GPL’s network.
You must be logged in to post a comment Login