GPL blames constant blackouts on citizens’ heavy use of AC, fans, lights

(Kaieteur News) – Amid daily blackouts, the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) on Monday blamed the situation on an overload of their generation capacity due to consumers constant and heavy reliance on air conditioning, electric fans and the switching on of their lights in the evening.

This was the reasons advanced by Head of GPL’s Executive Management Committee, Kesh Nandlall during a news conference where the company sought to explain recent service interruptions. Nandlall said that the current El Nino condition is driving up the use of air conditioning units, and ultimately the use of electricity. “I just want to give you some information as to what is really happening it occurs around 7 to 9 pm that is when everybody goes home and puts on their air conditioning and since the sun is hot in the day and a lot of houses including my home is concrete, what happens is the concrete absorbs the heat and releases it in the afternoon so people are putting on their air-conditioning units, their fans, their lights and it creates a significant surge and requirement of power. We are seeing…feeders now being overloaded, the medium voltage feeder and the transformers in the neighbourhoods are also being affected,” Nandlall said.

As a result, Nandlall stressed the importance of energy conservation, particularly during periods of peak demand, and encouraged customers to practise responsible energy use. He also reaffirmed GPL’s commitment to developing a smarter, more efficient and responsive electricity grid.