By: Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News |
Despite assurances from the Guyana Power and Light (GPL) that the Christmas season would be free of power outages, Guyanese were once again plunged into darkness—ironically, just hours after GPL’s Chief Executive Officer Kesh Nandlall promised a stable electricity supply.
Speaking on Tuesday, Nandlall confidently assured the public that GPL was fully prepared for the holiday period. He emphasized that ongoing maintenance was essential to improving reliability.
“We are doing a lot of maintenance work, which requires some amount of outages,” the CEO explained, adding that the aim was a dependable electricity supply throughout the festive season.
Nandlall highlighted that maintenance activities across the network were crucial to ensuring operational readiness, especially as the system typically experiences lower peak demand during the rainy season. He reminded citizens that the most severe strains on the grid occur during the hotter months, not December.
However, in a twist many on social media called “karma,” a widespread blackout struck the country just hours after his remarks—disrupting online examinations, interrupting daily routines, and reigniting frustrations over GPL’s ongoing reliability issues.
Residents and students took to various platforms to vent their anger, recounting ruined exams, spoiled food, damaged appliances, and the overall fatigue of living with chronic power interruptions.
“Right now we have available in the system reliably about 250 megawatts,” Nandlall had said earlier, suggesting that Christmas would not place unusual pressure on the grid.
Despite the addition of two power ships meant to stabilize generation capacity, blackouts continue to haunt citizens across the country. Many are now questioning whether GPL can indeed deliver on its promise of a blackout-free holiday—or whether frequent outages have become an inescapable part of life in Guyana.
