Venezuela's national power company, Corpolec, plans to invest $13.8 billion up to and including 2014 on a much-needed program to beef up an electricity network whose shortcomings are becoming ever more evident. Corpolec President Hipólito Izquierdo said the government's aim was to "continue optimizing the national electricity system." Some projects under a plan launched in 2001 had been completed, he added.
Critics who include a group of electricity industry employees who've been pressing for the sector to be declared in a state of emergency for very nearly a decade say Izquierdo rather proves their point. They question why the rate of progress is so slow.
In yet another Venezuelan paradox, a country rich in oil wealth and natural scope for hydroelectricity is falling victim to persistent brown-outs and regular black-outs. There have been four major power cuts this year alone. Power cuts are becoming part of the fabric of daily life. And, increasingly, people who don't like their jobs (and some of those who do) are simply packing it in and going home. While that might prompt thoughts about shirking workers using any old excuse to skive off, the fact is that people have good reason to want to get home before it goes dark. When the lights go out, villainous muggers come out seeking yet more victims.
The last time the power went AWOL in Caracas was earlier this month. It was around four o'clock in the afternoon, the Metro subway system was down, the buses were crammed and the long walk home was soon under way. This time, the lights came back up long before some of them got anywhere near spitting distance of their homes. But they had no way of knowing that and, anyway, by then it was too late. Even then the experienced Metro officials were without faith in the electric system and were reluctant to restart service, as they didnt want anyone trapped should the power decide to go out again.
The long-suffering residents of Petare, La Urbina and El Marques in east Caracas got it in the neck again on December 23 when power supplies once again broke down at eight o'clock in the evening. Across town, people living in the big blocks and twin towers of Parque Central found themselves trapped in the sky. No power and no lifts -- which they say don't work half the time anyway.
The cost to the country in terms of lost working hours and production is counted in billions, economists say. "The government has every reason to fix things, and soon, before we end up back in the Dark Ages," quipped a critic employed in the state sector who asked to remain nameless.
Industry analysts warn that there can't be a quick fix. "The system's clapped out, and just not up to the job," that same critical source warned. "Output is repeatedly overwhelmed by demand. It'll take years to fix." Meanwhile, he notes, electricity consumption continues to rise, at an officially estimated annual rate of around six percent. "I can't see them catching up in the near future, and not even some years down the line, even if they pull all the stops out."
Official figures show that consumption rose in the first 11 months of this year by 5.14 percent on a year before to Mw16,351. Generation also rose, but by a more modest 4.37 percent to GWh108,353 on the same measure.
The system is rickety and unpredictable. Cadafe, which supplies about 80% of the country, reported a net decline in output during the first 11 months of this year. A small upward blip of 4.37% in November wasn't much consolation. In contrast, another company, Edelca, reported a 5.24% rise in production during the same period. The Guri dam project, an important source of hydroelectricity for the capital, boosted its output by 10.18%.
Critics argue that the government isn't addressing the real issues, and that legislators at the National Assembly are missing the point. At one ironic point in October as the National Assembly -- full with Chavez acolytes -- was discussing how wonderful the electricity system was, the lights went out. The government has nationalized Electricidad de Caracas, but so far doesn't seem able to iron out wrinkles in the network.
Legislators have passed a flock of laws appertaining to power supply over the years. But rather than voting through funds for investment, they've focused on institutional issues such as the legal framework between official regulators and the industry.
No comments:
Post a Comment