000 homes in Georgetown

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Prepaid meters are already in the country and Guyana Power and Light (GPL) is currently involved in community engagement. Kitty, North Ruimveldt, Stabroek and Bourda Markets and Black Bush Polder are the target areas.GPL is hoping to install just over 2,000 of these meters by August.Chief Executive Officer of GPL, Bharat Dindyal, said that the prepaid meters offer some advantages for loss reduction, but the significant benefits are basically allowing customers to manage their electricity more prudently.He said that in cases where persons cannot pay an entire month’s bill at one time, it allows them to purchase electricity in amounts that their cash flow will allow.“It allows them obviously to decide when they want to use power and when they don’t want to use power and of course the system has all sorts of features that allow them to manage and tell them how much they are using and the rate at which they are using power. It also informs them when they have reached their limit and have to recharge.”He said that GPL will be importing emergency power cards, so if persons forget to replenish their account, they can access emergency power from the card.GPL is hoping that by end of June vendors would have completed all their Information Technology (IT) work, as some supporting infrastructure has to be in place with both GPL and GT&T. UtiliSol, a company from Chattanooga, Tennessee (USA), pushing energy innovation in developing countries, was awarded with the US$500,000 contract to provide prepaid energy options to 2,300 households in Guyana.Initially, the project will be tested in 2,000 homes in Georgetown, given that Georgetown has the required infrastructure necessary to facilitate the project.Once the pilot project is implemented successfully, GPL intends to expand to thousands of households across the country.It was explained that the programme benefits the utility companies because they no longer have to generate bills, do not have to send a crew out to turn someone’s power on or off, and can collect on past due bills by allowing a customer to turn their power on while crediting a portion of their prepaid power to their past due account.UtiliSol has operated similar programs in Dominica, St. Maarten and Honduras. The pre-paid meter service is funded as part of the Unserved Areas Electrification Programme, which is financed by the Inter-American Development Bank. (Fareeza Haniff).