Electricity consumers will enjoy a respite from power tariff increases as the Guyana Power and Light Inc (GPL) has formally announced that there will be no hike for the first quarter of this year.

A release from GPL said the customary review of tariffs will be undertaken before April to enable the filing of its final return certificate to the Public Utilities Commission.

GPL Public Relations Officer Marjorie Chester said in the release that GPL removed the fuel surcharge of $4.22 that had been applied to the rate for the fourth quarter of 2003 and has increased the basic rate accordingly. This is in keeping with the interim return certificate that was recently filed with the PUC.

According to GPL, the decision to keep the basic rate increase to a minimum was based on the board's and management's commitment to seek ways of reducing the burden of high electricity cost on customers.

An article in the December edition of Stabroek Business had said the company's five-year development and expansion plan assumed no increases in tariffs for this year, but forecast an eight per cent increase in 2005, a 0.4 per cent increase in 2006 and a six per cent reduction in tariff for 2007.

The company said yesterday that the statutes of the Electricity Sector Reform Act require that electricity rates be adjusted in order to keep the company's operations fluid and to help achieve operational plans and goals.

"The cost of purchasing adequate quantities of fuel, spare parts and other capital items for maintenance of both generation and transmission and distribution networks keeps rising, but GPL must find means to sustain delivery of power of acceptable quality to our customers everywhere," the release said yesterday.

The utility also said that the increase in the basic rate has been cushioned by the fuel surcharge that has been removed. GPL said that the current tariff table has been published in the daily newspapers.