President Irfaan Ali on Tuesday reiterated his government’s commitment to reducing electricity rates by 50% but provided no revised deadline for the nationwide implementation of the measure, which he had originally promised would take effect before the end of 2025.
Asked at his press conference when the reduction would be fully implemented and when consumers would receive the complete benefit, Ali said it was being introduced in phases in communities with renewable-energy systems.
“One of the things that we have committed to in the manifesto is the reduction in the cost of electricity, and we are fully committed to the reduction of that cost, and that is to bring it down by 50% for consumers across the country,” he said.
The President said some communities with solar installations and battery-storage systems had already benefited from phased reductions. He identified Parika and sections of Region One among those where reductions had been announced.
He said the government was also examining reductions for communities in Region Two, Leguan and Wakenaam, where solar systems have been installed.
“In the coming months, there will be additional communities that will feel the first tranche of that reduction,” Ali said.
However, he did not state the size of the reductions already granted, identify all the beneficiaries or say when consumers on the interconnected grid would begin receiving the promised cut.
Stabroek News had reported that Ali, in an address to Parliament on October 10, 2024, announced that electricity charges would be reduced by 50% for all consumers before the end of 2025. That deadline passed without the nationwide reduction being implemented.
The newspaper reported in January that Ali was non-committal when questioned about the delay. I
Stabroek News had also reported in November 2024 that Ali said the reduction would take effect even before the government’s flagship Wales Gas-to-Energy project was completed. At that time, he said officials were examining “many different contingencies”, plans and approaches to improve efficiency and reduce electricity costs.
The PPP/C’s 2025 manifesto subsequently linked the 50% tariff reduction to the completion of the Gas-to-Energy project.
The project comprises a 250-kilometre pipeline from the offshore oil operations, a 300-MW combined-cycle power plant and natural gas liquids facility at Wales, and approximately 85 kilometres of transmission lines with associated substations.
In February, Stabroek News reported that project lead Winston Brassington had announced that the facility, which was intended to reduce electricity costs by up to 50%, would not reach full operational capacity until the middle of 2027.
Ali on Tuesday did not say whether the phased reductions he described would be financed by subsidies or savings generated by the solar and other renewable-energy systems.
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