GEORGETOWN, Guyana — The Ministry of Public Utilities and Aviation says two power outages that disrupted electricity supply in parts of Demerara and Berbice on December 9 and 10 were caused by separate technical incidents involving transmission infrastructure and external interference.
In a statement on Wednesday, the ministry said the first outage occurred at approximately 22:06 hrs on Tuesday, December 9, after heavy arching and a short circuit were detected at the 69-kilovolt transformer at the Kingston Substation. Smoke was observed coming from the transformer panel, prompting the immediate dispatch of technical teams from Guyana Power and Light Inc. (GPL).
Investigations revealed that a damaged cable was responsible for the disturbance. As a precaution, the affected cable was isolated to allow for safe restoration. Power was restored incrementally, with all impacted areas fully repowered by approximately 00:30 hrs on Wednesday, December 10.
A second outage occurred later that morning at around 11:19 hrs, when the 69-kilovolt transmission line linking the Edinburgh and Vreed-en-Hoop substations tripped while carrying about 15 megawatts of electricity. The sudden loss of power triggered a cascading effect across the grid, disrupting service to customers in both Demerara and Berbice.
The ministry said investigations determined that the incident was caused by the movement of heavy machinery in close proximity to the transmission lines. Power was restored to some communities within 30 minutes, with full restoration achieved in approximately 90 minutes.
The Ministry of Public Utilities and Aviation noted that GPL currently has more than 250 megawatts of reliable baseload generation capacity—well above the country’s present demand of roughly 210 megawatts. However, disruptions can still occur due to external factors, including the operation of heavy-duty equipment such as excavators, cranes, draglines and cement pump trucks near transmission lines.
The ministry also pointed to a recent increase in accidents involving trucks and other motor vehicles coming into contact with GPL’s network, leading to widespread service interruptions affecting thousands of customers.
Authorities are urging road users, contractors and equipment operators to exercise caution when working or driving near electricity infrastructure, warning that unsafe practices pose serious risks to both public safety and service reliability.
The ministry said it continues to work closely with GPL to maintain a stable electricity supply and has commissioned more than 30 emergency response teams across the country to address outages and other emergencies as they arise.